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Every word Mikel Arteta said on Calafiori injury, Martinelli display and Arsenal tiredness

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 22: Mikel Arteta manager / head coach  of Arsenal applauds after during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD3 match between Arsenal FC and FC Shakhtar Donetsk at Emirates Stadium on October 22, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images)
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


Not the best display but was getting the win the most important thing tonight?

I think two very different halves. The first one we were very dominant and created four big, big chances. We should have put the game to bed with the amount of dominance and territory that we had.

We looked tired. We lacked that sharpness with and without the ball to regain the ball in the right moments and areas and gave certain balls away that allow certain transitions. We had chances again and missed a big penalty. That emotion was difficult to overcome and then we had to dig in. But credit to them. They are a big side and the moment you give them space and you had them chances in transition they look a real threat. But overall it’s Champions League, get the win, clean sheet. Let’s move on.

Are Ben White and Riccardo Calafiori both injuries?

Ben, it was my decision to take him out. He had a yellow card and we’ve played enough with 10 men in recent periods. They had a lot of density on that side, a lot of players on that side, so I didn’t want to take any chances there.

With Riccy he had to come off because he felt something. I don’t know the extent of it so in that sense not great news.

How do you re-energise the side after they looked tired?

Well, we played two nights ago with players coming from internationals after flying from Brazil and many countries. I was expecting a bit of a drop off. And the fact that we put so much in the first half and didn’t get the distance in terms of the scoreline, I think we paid a bit for that. Then we made life more difficult for us because we started give the ball away in not the right areas and then it was more open. That didn’t’ help. But we have now four days. Believe me, come Sunday we’ll be flying.

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You think you’ll be fine for Sunday?

Yeah for sure. We’ll review, have a day off, then two days to prepare the game. Sunday is far and we are more than comfortable that we’ll be in the right place.

Do you think Martinelli’s coming back to his best?

He looked really sharp, really fresh as well. Fresher than anybody on the pitch because he could not start against Bournemouth and you could tell that was different to the rest. He had another gear, he had another level of threat and he state the game really well. He had a great performance for us tonight.

Any temptation to let Kai Havertz take the penalty because he could have scored eight in eight at the Emirates which would have been a record?

They made that decision. The penalty takers are normally Bukayo and Martin. After that, we have two or three players who can take them and they made the decision. Unfortunately Leo missed it. As you said, it was an opportunity missed.

How important will Gabriel Jesus be in the rest of the season?

Very important because he can play in different positions and roles. You see his attitude again was exceptional. He was very unlucky because he had two big chances that he could have converted. He was good in many other areas and we need everybody.

How important is avoiding the extra two games considering the injuries you are picking up?

That would be great, but at the moment it’s very difficult to look at the table because tomorrow it will change with the amount of games and different opponents that we are playing. In the Champions League winning at home, especially in this format, is key. Keeping a clean sheet (too). With the amount of injuries we are dealing with and the situation we are dealing with, we are happy and lets move on.