Every word Mikel Arteta said on Arsenal’s win over Wigan, Calafiori, White and Odegaard

Here is every word Mikel Arteta said during his post-match press conference following the win over Wigan Athletic

Mikel Arteta spoke to the media after his Arsenal side made it through to the fifth round of the FA Cup after their four-goal win over Wigan Athletic. Goals from Noni Madueke, Gabriel Martinelli, an own goal from Jack Hunt and a lovely, chipped finish from Gabriel Jesus ensured a comfortable afternoon for the Gunners.

It was a routine win and the side even managed to coast in the second half, preserving energy ahead of a week filled with two matches away to Wolves and Tottenham Hotspur. However, there were some injury concerns as Riccardo Calafiori was replaced during the warm-up by Bukayo Saka.

And both Ben White and Kepa Arrizabalaga were replaced during the game. Arteta provided the latest when asked.

Here is every word from the Arsenal manager in his post-match press conference:

Thoughts on the performance

Well, very happy obviously with the result and especially the performance, the way we started the game. You really want to show how much you want it when you play against this kind of opposition in the Cup, and we certainly had that attitude. And then I was a bit surprised with the level of cohesion and connections very early in the match because when you make that many changes, that can be a part of the game that can be lacking, but certainly it wasn’t, and we scored some very, very good goals, and I’m very pleased with that.

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Obviously with Riccardo coming out you could maybe have brought in Declan or Piero or Martin, but you played Bukayo in sort of more central areas. Is that something you’ve been looking to try and how did you think it worked?

Yeah, that’s something that’s a possibility and I wanted to try it and we might use it in the future. So we still have so many games, competitions and different scenarios to play in this season, and that’s a possibility that we have.

Just two quick ones, quickly on Riccardo, what’s the situation with him and is he okay?

Yeah, him and Ben [White] are the only doubts. We have to wait and see in the next 48 hours how things develop.

And you might remember at a press conference a couple of years ago we talked about goalkeepers and substitutions in games of goalkeepers and you said in the right moment you would make a change. Was today that day?

No, this was a different context, I think, a different moment that I was referring to a few years ago. But I think everybody has to feel that he’s got a chance and if there are players, one of them will be Tommy for his attitude and the way he helps everybody every single day. So we had a chance to play in some minutes, we have to try to do it and I think we’re very happy.

Just another one on Bukayo because he’s played there before I think during the lockdown kind of seasons. What do you like about him in those areas compared to when he’s playing for the right?

Well, he’s more central, he’s closer to the goal. It’s a bit more difficult for the opponent to get his reference constantly. He can interchange position with the wide player as well, and he’s so good at picking those spaces, and when he’s there, he can really hurt you with the ball.

And when you say you were surprised by the cohesion, was it him in particular?

No, there were a lot of them and most of them they haven’t played that much together. So that’s not easy, but some of the goals were exactly what we wanted to do.

It looked like the plan was going to be to give Myles minutes in midfield today. Obviously you couldn’t do that, the late change. How frustrating was that?

No, that was another learning moment and I always tell them be ready because in the role that you have, you can change any minute and Bukayo had to be ready and he was made aware of that very, very late. But you need to understand the position, you need to understand the global intentions of the team and if you do that then you can perform and I think Myles had a really good game.

Two great assists from Eze today for the first two goals. Are you pleased that it was a confidence booster for him after a difficult week?

Yes, some superb goals and his intentions, I think the risk that he took in the final third, the amount of shots that he tried to take as well, I think that’s really positive. That’s what I want from him.

Could he have a big role to play for you in the next week given that Martin Odegaard wasn’t in the matchday squad today? Is he going to be around?

Yes, he’s already playing a big role. He’s played a lot of games for us and he will continue to do that.

I was just going to follow up on that, do you think that performance can be really important for Eze? Because obviously he has had his critics in the season and he’s just laid on two great assists and had a really good performance. How good will that be for him?

Those players need those moments and especially when we talk about the creative players, they need to feel that they are producing those moments and I’m very happy with that. I’m very happy with Gabi as well, the run that he made, the timing of that and then the finish in action, really, really positive. So it’s good for the mood, for the confidence, it’s a really good thing.

Just on Martin, was he rested today or was he injured?

Yeah, Martin we’ll have to wait and see. He picked that knock on the action when we conceded the goal and he wasn’t fit for today.

Just to touch on that with Martin, also you said Riccardo and Ben waiting to see what’s happened with them. You’re now still in all four competitions, on top of them losing Kai and Mikel. Are you worried that your squad’s getting thin as you have to play even more games?

Yes, and especially because we are going through, before it was the strikers, then it was the defenders, now it’s the midfielders. But we are still coping with that but we need some players back and fit and to give us as well not only numbers but different options in relation to the opponents that we have, so the quicker the better.

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