Every word Mikel Arteta said on Martin Odegaard return, Bukayo Saka link-up and Ethan Nwaneri

Thoughts on the game?

A really happy day. I think I sensed a great energy in the last 48 hours. The way everybody came back, I sensed a great togetherness and desire to change the situation and what has been a different period for us with all the situations that we had to come across. And the team is there straight away from the beginning. It was a flow, it was a dominance, there was an enthusiasm about it. That is why I demanded. We scored a goal, it should have been two, or three in the first half.

And then the fact that it was a total effort of the team. Because all the players have to come in and I have to take Jorgi out because of the yellow card. Thomas comes in and straight away scores the goal, Raz comes in and gets the assist, Ethan comes in and scores a goal, Alex gives us a different kind of dominance there, Jakub comes in to get some minutes in the legs.

READ MORE: Arsenal player ratings vs Nottingham Forest as superb Odegaard and Saka give title race hope

READ MORE: What Arsenal star Ethan Nwaneri did straight after scoring speaks volumes for Mikel Arteta

You don't play Declan, you don't play Martinelli, you don't play Kai Havertz. And there's always that question, is it right or wrong? And I felt it because I think the team needed that they all feel important and they have a real chance. And some of the players, the way they trained while we were here it was unbelievable. I have to praise that.

It must feel like a lifetime since you last had such a relaxing end to the game…

Yeah, it does, but obviously with the 1-0, something else can happen. We missed some big opportunities and unfortunately we weren’t in that position earlier. But credit to Forrest, they are really good side. They are a constant threat, every time they have the ball, they play directly. Every time they regain the ball, they are on you running. That’s why they’ve done what they’ve done. They haven’t lost a game away from home this season. We are the first one to beat them. That’s for a reason - because they are really good.

Has Odegaard’s return come just in time to turn the tide in the title race?

To have this kind of players in the team is always the right time. We talk about fluidity, understanding, chemistry, timing, he’s one of the best to do that. To manage the tempo of the game, when to slow it down, when to control it.

Obviously he’s been missed. It’s good that we could sub him because he started to get tired and was fading a bit. Ethan comes in and whoop it lifts the crowd. You can sense how much the crowd loves watching this kid play and the energy.

Are you surprised how much Martin has helped change the team?

No. I value that because it's very difficult to do after five or six weeks out. It doesn't surprise me because I've seen him every day, how he looks after himself, how much he wants it, the energy that he puts in and the courage that he has to play in any circumstances. Obviously, when he's on the team, you can sense something that is different. It's difficult to put a finger on it, but it’s different.

Surprised by how key Odegaard has been?

I value that. It’s very difficult to do after five or six weeks out. It doesn’t surprise me because I see him every day, how he looks after himself, how much he wants it, the energy he puts in and the courage he has to play in any circumstances. When he’s on the team, you can sense something that is different. It’s difficult to put a finger on it but it’s different.

It looked like there was a different energy to your team

Well I sensed a different energy 48 hours before the match. Straight away there was something that was different. What happened is that instead of 12, 13 players we trained with 19. That hasn’t happened in six weeks. Suddenly you are like wow, competitiveness raises the level, the quality, the understanding. Everything rises. That’s what we need. Every single day, train at that level. That’s on to the ability of a lot of players. They haven’t been able to do that. When that happens the level will rise for sure.

It looks like Ethan has to play every game, do you feel that?

Look at the two players you are throwing a lot of questions at. What I like is that he comes in and in that context the first thing he does is take a touch, run forward, run past two players and put it inches away from the post.

I am responsible to build a career for him. You have to do that brick by brick. Today he put another brick. Now we have to put another cement, make sure it doesn’t get dry so we can put another one and that will stick. Then we put one more layer, one more layer. If you want to put five in a row believe me it won’t work. We have to manage not only his expectation but his load as well, which is really important.

Nuno said that you had dominated space, Odegaard looks for that all the time

As well how often he does it. He does it in various circumstances. It’s true that that right side has played a lot of minutes, a lot. That chemistry, understanding and timing is always there. That’s their ability. Some players never have time. Some other players manage all the time to have a second or two. Martin does that because he’s always in the right moment.

The touch helps as well.

Ethan’s first Premier League goal, a lot of fans were saying he should have started before

I’m always tempted. The second youngest player to score for the club in the Premier League. He’s giving us all the reasons to play, another reason to put him there. That’s why I play him and not somebody else. Step by step I’d say.

People may say Saka wasn't injured during international break after performance like that, what would you say to them?

Well we can send an MRI scan, it's very simple. That's a communication that was very clear between the medical staff of Arsenal and the England national team. He hasn't done anything, he was away and needed time to heal. He's done one training session.

What's the key to Saka [and] Odegaard's relationship?

That's chemistry, sometimes you meet somebody, straight away you make eye contact and something flows. That's the case with those two. That's what's happened, it happens off the field it happens on the field and with many others as well. That's something in football that is very difficult to say.

But when you put them together in the right spaces, things flourish and things happen naturally. With others, you try to force it and it doesn't work. With these two we are very lucky to have them.

Nwaneri seems like a superstar in making. How do you find that balance?

I cannot do that myself, I cannot manage expectations. I will try to educate him, raise him and give him the pathway that we believe is the best. His family, his agent, his friends, they will be very important as well. Don't listen to the outside noise, focus on what he does, to play football and he loves every minute of him. Good things will happen to him for sure.