Odegaard – I am very proud, happy and grateful | Interview | News

It was a very happy homecoming for Mikel Arteta and the team after a successful pre-season program in Germany and the USA.

After four wins from four on those two trips, we beat a convincing 6-0 team who finished fourth in La Liga last season, again in front of our supporters at the Emirates.

So it’s no surprise that the manager was a very happy man after the game. Here’s every word from the manager’s post-match press conference from our final pre-season friendly:

of the game…

We prepared to play against a team that has been very, very successful over the last few years, that has a huge amount of European experience and we wanted a different test. They have a different way of playing, a different character. The games you have to play within the game are something different and it’s been good preparation for us and there were a lot of moments in the game that suited us. Obviously, this is a great result, but there are still many things we need to improve.

for the quality of protection…

It’s about the connection between all the players, all the units, the intensity, the desire to win the ball as high as possible on the pitch. The moment we give it out, it’s about how the team reacts, how compact we are, how ready we are when that press is beaten, to come back and be compact again. It’s just a team effort and individually and collectively they really live the game in every single ball and that’s what we ask of them.

for Gabriel Jesus who settled in so well…

You hope that will happen, but obviously a player has to adapt to a new city, to a new club, new team-mates and he did it in a really quick and natural way. You can see the way they look for him on the pitch, on and off the ball, and what he can deliver on that pitch, so I’m really happy.

is Martin Odegaard…

I think he makes Gabi better and he needs a threat in front of him because he is a player who can find the last pass at any moment. When it’s indoors or outdoors, we need someone to make it look better, and I think the connection is already there with the wings as well.

for if we lacked movement up front last season…

We tried to improve the team and recruit to get better and obviously there were some things we didn’t have. We’ve tried to get them when we’re bringing people in or developing our players and that’s always the goal.

for Gabriel Jesus’ role in the team…

What we see is that everyone, not just Gabi, plays with that intensity and that desire to win the ball, encourage mistakes and play in the opponent’s half as much as possible. You can’t do that if the players up front are going, they don’t track, they don’t have that instinct and that intention to provoke things that we want and Gabby is phenomenal at that.

if he is a center forward…

Its versatility is well known. Now we use him as a nine, he can play on the wing, on the left and on the right. You can play with two shots, like we did in the preseason, and change the shape a little bit. It gives us a lot of flexibility.

from the strength of the team…

We still hope to do something else if the market allows us to do it. You’ve noticed some movement in the other direction in the last few days, so we want to achieve the perfect balance and plan that we wanted from the beginning. Whether we can achieve that or not is another story, but I’m happy with where we are now.

for Bellerin after Tavares’ loan…

We don’t know, it’s a case by case basis. For Nuno’s development, I think it will be really important. Obviously we’ve got Olex in that position and we’ve got Kieran as well who are two really strong players in that position and we believe it was the best decision for Nuno to do that.

when Odegaard becomes captain…

What I have seen in the last 18 months since he has been with us is that he represents the values ​​of this football club, the team, his teammates and the staff in the best possible way. He has shown the ambition to take this club to a different level, to push this team and contribute to it, and the way he is respected by everyone in the organisation. He is also the captain of his national team and I think it was the right decision and I am proud to announce it because I think he is a really good person to fulfill this commitment to the club.

regarding players not kneeling…

I don’t know that we didn’t have it, there was so much going on with the two acts we had before the game. We didn’t play the song either, so there was a lot going on today and we had to prioritize what we could do. The opening game was also postponed, so things just didn’t work out.

of the preseason as a whole…

I am. We’ve had a mix of spending time here in London and away and playing competitive games against lots of different opponents and formations, ways of playing and team behaviour. We also had different conditions, we were in Germany and we had to acclimatize with the weather there, we went to the USA and it was the same, now we play with a different context and atmosphere, so overall I feel like the team is prepared. The ball will start rolling on Friday night and it will be a different story.

for the injured players are ready for friday…

I think most of them will be, they’ll have to go through what they have to this week and then hopefully we’ll have them available. They are missing minutes, but we will have to build them up like any other injury we get during the season.

of Zinchenko…

First of all, his mentality. He is used to winning – winning is the only thing and in the right way. He’s a perfectionist and a really demanding lad, I know him so well, and then he brings qualities that we didn’t have in the team. It gives us a different opportunity to play within the role in different spaces and I’m really happy to have it.