Arsenal coach Arteta led the team to defeat West Ham United 2-0 and attended the press conference. He talked about the 300-game milestones, victory, and the latest injuries of Odge and Rice.
About today's victory
The last two games have been very special. Against Newcastle, because we had a bad history there, left a lot of scars and learned a lot of lessons, we corrected that. Then there is West Ham United, we have lost to them twice at home for the past two seasons. I told the players that it was a big opportunity, we had a very difficult schedule since the beginning of the season and some very bad injuries that didn't help. Despite this, the team still performed well, played well, won the game with absolute dominance today and did not concede goals. Therefore, it is a good thing to be able to enter international competition day in this state of mind.
About Odgao's injury
I think he experienced a knee-to-knee collision and he immediately felt uncomfortable. I just talked to him and he was not optimistic about it. He put on protective gear and we had to wait for the doctor's examination results. But we have not been very lucky in this regard.
About Odge's injury was not lucky this season
Since the beginning of the season, we have not been able to keep him playing for one reason or another, with a shoulder injury twice, and then this time the injury. So we have to wait and see how serious the injury is this time. We'll find solutions, but it's clear that our captain is a player who can bring us completely different dimensions, especially on the offense, where he can do something different. Let's wait and see, hope the injury is not too serious.
Regarding the role of Calafiori in the team, he is very energetic and sometimes a little confusing, but I think his vitality and the space and situations he can create are difficult for opponents to control, especially when facing a team with a very tight organization. You have to disrupt their organization to create opportunities, and I think we're doing a really good job in that.
Regarding the reason why Rice was replaced
He was not in a good situation because he took the initiative to ask me to change him, so this is a pity. He had some pain in his back and couldn't stick with the game, which was unusual for Rice, so we had to evaluate him and see how it was going.
Regarding the level of substitutes, this is exactly what we want, but it is not ideal because we have very clear intentions for the starting lineup, what we want to do, but because of Odgao's injury, the plan lasted only for a short time. But the advantage is that we can replace others with them, and the playing style can be slightly different, but it is still very, very efficient.
I am particularly satisfied with how satisfied Suvimenti's performance after he came on the bench
I am particularly satisfied with their (West Ham) coping, and how they fight against our midfield, and the space we can create through Suvimenti. I think it's better that they have no intention of organizing or cooperating in the first phase, so that's great. There are a lot of direct long passes, competing for the second place, and we want to create opportunities to ensure we can control the situation and lead the game in the area we want, which is why.
About the new midfield trio today we need more and more chemistry, and we need longer because in the first phase, until they start to experience and find solutions and tools that allow them to play well, but that never happened because Martin was injured too early.
I am very proud of winning the 300th game of the coaching career - this is a big number for this football club. I want to thank everyone, especially the coaching team I have been with me since day one. Without them, it was impossible to do the job first, and it was also impossible to enjoy it second, so I knew I had the best people in the world around me. And the players and staff who have been with me since day one, who support me, help me become a better coach, let me learn from them, inspire me, and enjoy the good moments together. I wanted to celebrate it with a victory, and I did it. Now we are on an international match day, and you can enjoy it and use this time to prepare well, because the match you will face before the next interval will be very difficult again.
About Saka reaching a milestone in the Premier League's 100 goals scored
When you see these numbers, 200 games, 100 goals scored, which is simply incredible. His age, what he is doing, and the way he does it, are all excellent. This is exactly the kind of player we need to achieve our goals.
Regarding the momentum in the next schedule, we know how difficult those games will be, but we want to come to the position we are now because we have experienced some very tough schedules before, against some top teams, some away games, and we have some serious injuries. We had to adjust a lot of things, and some players also recovered from serious injuries and surgeries in the early weeks of the season. So it's a challenge, but I think the team is very convincing in terms of performance and results, and it's a good platform to keep moving forward.
Regarding the importance of lineup rotation
is crucial. We have a game every three days and it is impossible to keep the same player appearance given the intensity of our game and the requirements of our opponents. So those players who come on the bench, they have to improve their level and intensity and help us win the game. We've discussed it a lot, many times, especially during this time, and I think this (rotation) is really, really positive.