After guiding his side to a 3-0 success against Monaco on Wednesday, Mikel Arteta was back in front of the media again on Friday afternoon as he held his pre-Everton press conference.
Interrogated by the journalists in attendance, Mikel was asked about injuries, Myles Lewis-Skelly potentially being involved, his time at Everton and the clubs playing tribute to Kevin Campbell on Saturday.
Here is how he responded to those questions and everything else:
on whether Gabriel or Riccardo Calafiori could be fit:
There is a possibility one of them to be available. He trained today and we will see tomorrow.
on having to be cautious with Calafiori as he hasn't had a run of games:
We're just respecting the times that the medical department has set and then we’ll just monitor his evolution every single day. We understand that he’s not fully ready yet but he's getting very close now.
on if anyone else is ruled out:
No apart from the ones that were out already.
on if Myles Lewis-Skelly deserves another start:
He certainly deserves to be in contention to be selected because he performed and competed really well. At his age, to show maturity on the pitch is strange and off the field is exactly the same. He is a person who continuously surprises all the staff with the kind of questions that keep all of us asking. A lot of times that shows you the intelligence of the person and Myles is a really bright boy.
on how he felt seeing him flourish against Monaco:
You always take a chance, nobody can guarantee you a performance. It doesn't matter about the experience or the age but he was also surrounded by very senior and experience players. We believed that it was the right context for him to succeed and have the team to perform to win the game, and he certainly did that.
on the Rice, Odegaard and Merino midfield:
There have been recently a lot of new units, and certainly that was one that we had planned and discussed and I think they can play so well together. They did a really good job, they will play again together for sure in the near future. I think they complement each other really well.
on how they complement each other:
They are intelligent and have football brains. They are three players that like to play for others especially. You have players that can hold the ball in tight spaces, they can run with the ball, they have threat in the box, you have creativity in tight spaces, you have a lot of the things that you want. In the defensive part as well, you have two players that are more are holding midfielders and Martin is exceptional in this timings and and aggression in the high press, so it’s very good.
on Nicolas Jover having a mural outside Emirates Stadium:
I’m so happy, he fully deserves it, the same as many other staff and coaches. It’s great that the attention is not just on the players or sometimes the manager, that our supporters can think that way and someone can be so creative and it makes people feel valued and be recognised and I think it's something really good.
on how special Kevin Campbell was:
You can tell the way people talk and the tone of the face that they put on when they talk about him. The club has done really well again to make that day feel very special from all the people that had the chance to get to know him and recognise who he was, especially as a person, so it will be a special day.
on if Bukayo Saka’s Champions League form is getting him more credit:
First of all, we have to be in the competition. We certainly are now and players and everybody has to step up to that level. It is remarkable what he is doing consistently every three days in different competitions at this level is really good and he will continue to do that.
on the biggest value Mikel learned from his time at Everton:
The human quality and then how deep the feeling is towards the club. As we all know, the club has been through very different stages through its history and recently they’ve had a very tough one, but I love the way they get together, go through their storms and the way they face it is a great example. Again, what Sean [Dyche], the coaching staff and players have done in recent years with all the instability around the club, hopefully they can try to be apart from that now with the new stadium, with new ownership as well and keep going and start to have more enjoyable times.
on Everton having more time to prepare for this game:
That’s the context. We’re so used to playing every three days. The boys trained today really fired up and looking forward to the game, understanding that it’s always a really tough opponent and we’re going to have to be really good to beat them.
on if Saka is world-class:
I don’t know, I don’t like putting labels on players. He’s exceptional at what he does and he’s doing it very consistently. Now we need to go to the next step with things collectively as well to get that level. That’s the aim.
on Campbell proving there are more important things than football:
Yes for sure. The issue that we all have normally is that we don’t recognise if something really difficult and impactful happens in our lives. We are surrounded now unfortunately with a lot of issues, a lot of families, relatives, everybody is going through a lot of stuff that before wasn’t common, so perspective is always good.
on how he keeps perspective on things:
Understanding and being grateful for what we have daily - where we are first of all. Being healthy is the most important thing. I have three kids, a wife, a family and the only thing that I ask and pray for is for everybody to be healthy. Without that, we have nothing else. Then, where we are, what we’re brought to this world to do and make sure we enjoy it because there are going to be moments where unfortunately the world is going to crash and we’re going to have to go through that.
on Everton's struggles during the takeover period:
They haven’t lost the rules and that fighting spirit, togetherness and love for the club in regards to whatever happens - they are there. That’s not easy and that makes them really special. Hopefully that will help them, and give them stability. The project with the new stadium looks unbelievable as well, so there's a lot to be excited about.
on the importance of threats from both sides of the pitch:
We certainly have that but obviously it’s never going to be the same because they have different qualities. We need to understand that we have many other threats in our left side and over the years we’ve done it. If not, we wouldn’t be scoring the amount of goals that we have scored in the last two seasons, so I’m really pleased with that. Different is good, it doesn’t have to be symmetric. Asymmetrics in football are great and very difficult to combat. We continue to go, trying to improve.
on how important Merino could be on the left side:
That’s something we’ve had a lot of instability in in recent years, so finding that stability, those relationships, that time together, putting players that can connect with each other and find those chemistries are very important. It’s true that we’ve never had consistency, especially because of availability, on the left and on the right.
on if he ever shows Saka the output of other forwards for inspiration:
We always set targets, but it’s about understanding how we’re going to reach those targets. If we have an idea to score 30 goals or 40, it’s about how we’re going to do it and then how we’re going to create a plan to try to develop the player to give him the best possible chance to make sure he’s able to do that.
on the dinner after last season’s final day win at home to Everton:
It was obviously mixed emotions. Very sad because we had hope that we could do it on the last day of the season. It’s happened many times in this league but we weren’t able to do it, and at the same time pride and fire in the belly and motivation to understand that we’re there and we’re good enough to do it and we have to push it again because we really want it.
on which players that mindset came from:
I don’t like to explain that, but a few players came straight away with that kind of talk.
on if Saka could move into a more central position like Messi or Ronaldo did:
I think that will depend a lot on the qualities and the players who are around him. For somebody to be an inside instead of an outside, somebody has to be outside and that player, that full-back, that attacking midfielder and nine has to allow the space to do that. But I’m certainly very open to keep evolving players. Sometimes it’s the role, sometimes it’s the position on the pitch and sometimes there are other things we can do so that he can spend more time in this position because when the ball is far on the opposite side, we can choose where we want him, but we’re certainly thinking about these kind of things.
on if he leaves it up to Saka and Martinelli to determine their positioning:
Their understanding of the game and spaces and the timing that they move in relation to each other is strong. I think the freedom has to increase because the decision-making is going to improve because they understand it better, so that will create uncertainty in the opposition and at the moment they are in that stage where they have a lot more freedom than in the past.
on if Martinelli can become a number nine in the long term:
He’s played there a few times. Gabi is so good when he’s got the line on his back and he’s facing forward and he’s got the ball in the diagonal. I haven’t thought too much about that and he’s so comfortable playing there, especially on the left side, so I think I see other evolutions more than this one.
on our sporting director situation going into January:
We have one. Jason Ayto is our interim Sporting Director, and he’s got the full capacity and support of the football club and he’s doing really well with his team. Then the process is open, obviously as you know, and the club with the support of all of us and the intervention of all of us will decide who they think the best person is to move us forward.
on if there’s any progress on appointing a permanent sporting director:
I’m sure there is progress, yeah.
on if January will be a busy window:
I never expect January to be super busy, but we have to wait and see where we are. Some surprises can come, we are prepared for that, some opportunities as well, and we have to see. Hopefully the squad availability is going to be better in a few weeks so we will have to wait and see.
on if the pathway is now clearer for academy players:
In terms of intention and what we want, it’s clear. We want to look in the academy and then we have to understand if what we need is actually there in that moment because sometimes with the age group, the timing doesn’t always work. But we are extremely happy with the way the academy is working and to see that talent rising. Now we have to create space in the squad for those kids to have the right amount of time in the role that they deserve in the squad.
on when the Sporting Director position will be resolved:
Timing-wise it’s difficult to understand. I’m not running that process, so it’s more a question for the club to respond to that.
on if he’d like to see it be settled soon:
Yes, but we are convinced that we have the right person with the right team that can work with a lot of people who are doing extremely great work at the moment. Somebody is going to help us go to the next level and we might have it internally.
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