As usual, as part of his post-match media duties, Mikel Arteta headed to the press room at Emirates Stadium to answers questions from the media following our 3-0 win against Monaco.
He tackled questions about the displays of Bukayo Saka and Myles Lewis-Skelly, taking our goalscoring chances and how we're settling into the rhythm of Champions League games.
Here is everything he had to say:
on the overall performance:
Well, very happy with the win, with a clean sheet, with the fact that we had to change a few players, players that haven’t played that much and they still performed really well and put us in a good position in the group.
on Bukayo Saka stepping up in the Champions League:
Well, he keeps surprising us, but that's what he wants to do, that’s the quality he has, that’s the ambition that he’s acting and preparing himself for every single day. So, I’m not surprised, but it’s very difficult to do what he’s doing.
on Myles Lewis-Skelly’s first Champions League start:
Well, really proud moment. He’s one of our own, 18 years old. He makes his starting debut in the Champions League and he’s just a joy to watch him you know. It’s a privilege to have the opportunity to give a chance to somebody, to start to change his career, He certainly took the chance and it’s great that we can trust him, that he can play in this environment and on this level and I was really happy with his performance.
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on the number of chances we created tonight:
Yeah, we should have obviously scored four or five in the first half. This wasn’t the case and this is the Champions League. The level of opposition is really high. The way they play, they create quite a chaos, because there are so many players inside and the moment that you are not very well organised or neat in possession, the first two, three passes, you're gonna struggle against them, but we will work on that situation. We scored the second one, after the game was in our control. I think the subs helped us as well in the right moments, so overall very positive.
on whether Arsenal are now established in the Champions League:
I think we are enjoying our run, we keep learning. Today’s a lot of learnings to take from this game, from the experience, learning from the team and obviously we need much more. We need to go through certain moments, and I’m sure we will in the near future, but the fact that we can compete against any team that’s a positive thing to take, but understand how difficult it is to do it consistently in this competition.
on if Saka is at a world-class level:
You have to be able to do that consistently throughout many years to put yourself in that position. What he’s already done at his age, you can already put in brackets, because we can compare what he’s done in his first six years of professional football which is exceptional, you know, and that’s it and his aim is to improve. He has the players and environment to continue to do that and I’m sure he will.
on whether Lewis-Skelly is now in contention to play more regularly:
He’s good, he’s been in contention. In pre-season he opened our eyes to say I’m ready, the same as Ethan. He feels comfortable in this environment, they can perform, they can compete which is important as well not just play and today he’s shown that he’s at that level.
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on how to help Gabriel Jesus’ confidence:
Nothing, just to put him in front of goal like he’s done today on a couple of occasions, and there are millimetres, centimetres to if the goal goes in or not. He was there, he looked really alive, he had created the first goal from a great move and that’s him, so we have him back he’s with us and I’m sure he will contribute to the team.
on how to make the team more clinical:
We have a massive responsibility. I cannot kick the ball but we can coach them, we can teach them and sometimes they have to take a step back as well, it’s a decision they have to take. They cannot be thinking about what they have to do, what we’ve told them as well. We try to provide the right information and right tools so they can understand the defence, understand the keeper a lot of things that we work on, and after that it’s their execution. It’s a difficult thing to do in football but they have a lot of talent to deliver that.
on the example Saka is setting for young players at the club:
I think that’s been an evolution. He wasn’t able to do that at 17 or 18, or 19, a year or two ago because he has developed in the right way mentally, physically, his condition, his preparation now he has the habit to play every three days, and he’s consistently doing that at the highest level. I think he need to continue to do that and for the youngest players, for the other ones and for all of us he is a great example because of how he behaves daily and because what he wants to do with us is to try to have the best version every day and continue to improve.
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