After addressing the Emirates Stadium crowd following our 1-0 win against Newcastle United, Mikel Arteta was soon speaking to the media in the press room following the match.
He was asked about punching our ticket to the Champions League, his words to the crowd, summer plans and saying goodbye to some of our squad.
Here is everything he had to say:
on securing Champions League football next season:
That's what we wanted to achieve today. We had a few objectives, finishing second, finishing the Champions League spots and finishing the season in front of our people in the right manner with the right results. Two things have been achieved.
on the objectives now:
First of all we have one more game to play and to finish it in the right way, and winning in Southampton is going to be really important again and then go on holidays, have time to reset and bring the temperature down a little bit. It's been a long, long season and we need to start to think and reflect on everything that we have planned is the right one. Start to make some steps, some action and come back here fresh on day one, ready to go again.
on the emotions in his speech at full-time:
It was emotional because of the way I feel and it's great. We had a dream, I said it out there, to deliver a big trophy this season for our people and because I think the team deserved it as well in the journey that we've been together in the last three or four years. We haven't achieved that and there are a lot of factors and a lot of situations that we've been through for the last nine and a half months that are not happening but make sure that we're still valid.
There's a lot of incredible things this club is doing, the team is doing, the players are doing, the way we are competing and the consistency that we are showing. If we are not able to see that, that's a really, really dangerous thing to do. Just expecting something and playing if we don't, that's a really dangerous thing. I know they don't want us there, where we are now, knocking on the door every year and make sure that we can see clarity. We stay very disciplined and very clear and ambitious with what we want to do in the summer.
on reflecting upon this campaign:
I would leave that for the summer. I've done it in the dressing room and for me it's very clear. But I'm there every day. I know what we've been through for nine and a half months. I know what we've done. I know very well the history of the Premier League and the teams that have been in 30% of the situations that we've been in. They have collapsed, completely collapsed, and we haven't. I really value that because that shows that we have built something that is very, very sustainable and consistent, regardless of people who don't like to see it.
on whether he feels he has the backing of the board this summer:
Yeah, but that's not something new. I think they always back the team, the club, in the best possible way, and it's not going to be different in the summer. We have to be very smart with the decisions that we take. Obviously we need players because the squad is really short, and on top of that, we are losing four or five players that end their contracts and their loans are finished. So we need to be sharp, again very disciplined in what we want to do and make sure that we are strong in the season.
on when our plan for the summer can be executed:
The plan is done and the time will be dictated by many parties, many circumstances that unfortunately we don't control. But we have great people in charge of that and they're going to be leading that with the board and ownership. And as well make sure that the ones that we have, they feel valued, they feel loved and make sure that they want to continue with us in the right manner, then the whole environment that is excited. That is not just about if we make it because we cannot start a season like that, and I want to feel that from day one. I'm going to be very insistent on that.
on the issues with injuries this year compared to other teams:
But not this season and in previous seasons, in the history. And 8th and 5th, missing one or two players only. [on if he is referring to this season] No, no, no. That was in the past. In the past. In the past, five years ago, 10 years ago. Look in the memory and see what has happened in this league.
on what can be different with more injury fortune next season:
I don't know. I will try. When I can, I promise I will do my very best. I will live my life here. I will give everything. I will get every drop of everybody there. Squeeze it to get the best. But promise? I cannot promise that next season I'm going to win the Premier League or the Champions League. If I have to do that, I don't do it because I cannot promise anybody that. My best and the best of these players are going to try and go mad chasing that, I guarantee you that's going to happen.
on if he feels the belief from our supporters:
Yeah, it was a really special evening [at Union Chapel]. I was very lucky to be there as well. I do feel it and we don't take it for granted. We want to sustain that and give them joy and then they can feel proud about this football team and the values that we have as a football club and how we represent it, and then win. If we can achieve all of that at once, then great.
on keeping patience with this team:
I don't know. Now we finish second for the third season. In the last three seasons, there is one team that has been better than us in total points, which is Manchester City, which is the best team in the history of this league by a mile, ad we are there. Liverpool has a trophy, we don't have a trophy. We are in the Champions League semi-final for the first time in the last 16 years, and we are unsatisfied and upset, and it's not good enough. Great - let's go for the next thing. But I think we're on the right trajectory.
on if he feels the supporters are 100% behind him and the players:
That's what I feel, but I don't know. The ones that I see every day in the street, the ones that they contact me, the ones that I see there, I would say that 100%. But they want more because we have set expectations, and they've seen the team that is capable, against any opposition, to compete against them. So we need to believe that we're going to do it together.
on the appearances from Calafiori, Havertz and Tierney this afternoon:
Well, the first one because of an injury to Wilo, I think he felt something in his hamstring in the first half, unfortunately so we had to make the substitution. And with the other two, Kai, I mean, he's been incredibly fast in his recovery. I think the doctors were a bit, is it too early? But he's been pushing it, and he thought he could help the team. And with Kieran, he had a very special circumstance the way he had to come back and settle in the team again after four months out, and he's been really good with the group. He has contributed in every possible way to help us and I'm very grateful for that.
on the futures of Jorginho and Tierney:
We had a few in the dressing room that is probably is going to be the last time that they put that shirt on at Emirates Stadium. I've been there and make sure that we are close to them, and I'm very grateful to them as well.
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