Arteta: Tomorrow's Match Is a Great Opportunity for Us, and This Is the Team's Condition
Sunday 14-12-2025
Arsenal's coach Mikel Arteta appeared at a press conference to discuss tomorrow's match against Wolverhampton in the sixteenth round of the English Premier League, to be held at the Emirates Stadium.

The coach said in his speech: "After any defeat, you want to fix things immediately (the loss against Aston Villa), and we did that by putting ourselves in an excellent position in the Champions League. Now the focus is on Wolverhampton. It's a great opportunity for us."

Zubimendi added: "I admire him a lot. I know how difficult it is to come to this league and do what he has been doing from the start. First, you have to earn your place in the team, which is not easy. Then you have to adapt to a different style of play and a different league. The variety of roles he takes on during the match is exceptional. His defensive stats are amazing. I never doubted for a moment that he was capable of delivering that, but this is the Premier League, and you have to prove yourself. Offensively, his positioning, how he creates space, his threat to the goal, and his ability to assist goals... all of these are important. He has also improved on set pieces, although he still needs to get better in that area as well. He is a player who is never satisfied. You can praise him individually, but he won’t settle, nor will he be satisfied with his performance. And that’s what makes him a great player."

He elaborated on the limited starting appearances of the young player Ethan Nwaneri: "He was preparing in the best possible way. His attitude was excellent. When he got the chance to prove himself, he showed that I was wrong and that he needs more minutes to help the team. His eagerness to play, even in friendly matches, was excellent."

Regarding the potential sale of Gabriel Jesus in the near future: "I am not thinking about that, especially given the current situation. Gabi has a lot to offer the team, and he has proven that as soon as he returned. He has worked very hard to be ready, and our focus now is for him to stay with us."

Regarding William Saliba's condition: "It's not serious. He had an ankle injury, then he started changing his running style, which caused overload in another area. This is common, but he became uncomfortable during training and playing, so we had to stop him. He seems better now, but we have to wait to see if he's ready to train with the team."

Regarding Victor Gyökeres' brilliance: "Both things must come together: we put the player in the best possible position to showcase his abilities, and at the same time, there are role and gameplay requirements that must be followed. The most important thing is the connections with the other players around him, the understanding between them, and how that develops. Before his injury, he was in an excellent position. He needed some time to adapt because he came from a different league without a preparation period. The goals will come, and we will be very happy with him."

Regarding Christian Nørgaard's participation in defense against Club Brugge: "It depends on the player's mentality and intelligence. A player like Christian is capable of performing the role when you tell him on the morning of the match that he will play in a different position. We have many examples like Mikel Merino. This gives us an advantage."

He added, "Does Arsenal get enough recognition? That's not for me to judge. We are in a strong position in the three competitions we are participating in. Recognition comes at the end of the season when we evaluate what we have achieved. We want to be the best in everything."

Regarding scoring 11 goals from open play: "This is football. Everything comes in waves. Evaluating five or ten matches is not enough to understand the full picture. Even 40 matches are not a sufficient sample. Having the ability to score in different ways and from different players is a great advantage. We want to be the best in every situation."

He added about the match against Wolverhampton: "We need to show our players the reality of our opponent. A team in such a situation will fight and respond strongly, and that is dangerous in this league. Therefore, there will be no complacency."

Regarding the competition for the Premier League title, "In every Premier League match, there are risks, especially against a team that is chasing results. I know their coach well, and we know what we need to do. In the end, you have to surpass 90 points to win the title. That means winning a lot of games."

Regarding the decline in results over the last five matches: "We hope to win tomorrow, and then in the final matches, we will be the best in the performance table. We are trying to win every match to be as consistent as possible."

He concluded about the team's condition: "As for Saliba, we have to wait. He hasn't trained with us yet. As for Timber, it depends on how he feels today. It's a matter of days. Rice was sick; his condition will likely improve in a few days, but we'll see how much he can handle. Trossard needs a few days to be ready."

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