Arsenal boss Arteta aims to use City boost to beat Newcastle

Gunners boss Mikel Arteta has been speaking ahead of Arsenal's tough trip to Newcastle



Arsenal boss Arteta aims to use City boost to beat Newcastle

The Gunners will be aiming to turn around a two goal deficit at St James's Park (pictured) on Wednesday evening in a bid to reach the Carabao Cup final. CREDIT: @laythy29


Arsenal boss Arteta aims to use City boost to beat Newcastle

Gunners boss Mikel Arteta has been speaking ahead of Arsenal's tough trip to Newcastle   

Mikel Arteta reflected on Arsenal's outstanding 5-1 thrashing of Premier League champions Manchester City at the Emirates on Sunday - and hopes his team can use the victory to boost their hopes of turning around the tie. 

Eddie Howe's Magpies posted a 2-0 win at the Emirates early last month, as the North Londoners lost two domestic cup ties in the space of five days, after also losing to Manchester United on penalties to exit the FA Cup at the third round stage. 

Howe's side were flying back then, but have since suffered two home defeats, including a 4-1 loss to Bournemouth late last month, as well as going down 2-1 to Fulham at St James' Park at the weekend. 

Arsenal will be backed by nearly 5,000 travelling fans - who it has to be noted purchased their tickets after the 2-0 defeat to Newcastle.

Before Arteta and his team headed up to the north-east for the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg against Newcastle, the Gunners boss spoke to the press at London Colney on Tuesday afternoon. 

Arteta was asked about the latest team news, the lack of new arrivals as the transfer window slammed shut, his take on Wednesday's must-win clash as well as his plans for his squad's break in Dubai or Doha straight after the game.

Read on for everything Arteta had to say:

on team news:

There’s no news from the game against City, Ben [White] is still out. Hopefully after the break, he will be available, Saka not yet.

on if Bukayo Saka could be back in March:

I don’t know.

on the mood in the camp ahead of the semi-final:

The next step is a final in Wembley so we know how big that is, and you can feel it straight away. The boost the game against City gave us, the manner that we won it, and the fact that it is a game in the competition where we are closest to a final, so we're going to give it a real go.

on having put work into transfers that may help us in the summer: 

We had a clear intention which is always there is a window open to explore opportunities to improve our squad with players that can impact it. We haven’t achieved it so we are disappointed in that sense but as well we are very aware that we only want to bring in certain kinds of players and we have to be very disciplined with that as well, and I think that we were.

on Newcastle being a bogey team:

I didn’t know that word! They are a very difficult team to play against and there have been different games. We beat them at home last year in a good way, and obviously this season has been different with two very different games as well. It’s another opportunity in front of us, a big one that can take us to Wembley so I’m really looking forward to it.

on who his bogey team was a player:

Barcelona, that was one.

on Arsenal not winning the League Cup since 1993:

In the domestic cup we have an unbelievable record, but historically [the League Cup] has been difficult and tough, so it’s a good opportunity again to make history.

on not getting a striker and being confident that we can score the goals we need against Newcastle:

They are two separate things, one I think we talk very openly from my side and a club perspective about the intention to improve the squad if we have the capacity to do it. Then, most importantly, to keep improving the team and the individuals within the team because they’re the ones that we have and we love. That's it and from now there's no discussion about it, and we focus on the things that we have continued to do even when the window was open.

on if he gets nervous in a semi-final as a manager:

I don’t think that’s word, excited for sure. We’re lean, hungry and enthusiastic because we are very close to playing in a final and hopefully we can achieve it tomorrow.

on Myles Lewis-Skelly’s rise:

The players will be best [placed] to express how they feel about Myles in this particular game, because they are sitting next to each other, they share the pitch which is the most important thing. What I’ve always said is how they feel about these young players when they come in - do they trust them, do they feel like they're stronger with them and that’s the feeling that I get when we give them that opportunity. For me, they are ready in our eyes, but in the team’s feeling as well, they feel that they can be better with them.

on being responsible for Ethan Nwaneri’s development:

Very much, but with every player regardless of their age. Obviously, they each have a different component especially when they are not even 18 years old and we have other cases in the team. As parents, I imagine they rely on us to educate them, transmit the right values to them, looking after them, especially protecting them emotionally and physically. It’s a lot of responsibility, but thankfully we share it with quite a lot of people, and I think they are in good hands.

on the difference in confidence since the first leg:

When you compare the emotional state of the team straight after the defeat and the manner that it happened and how we are, today is very different because we come from very strong performances, some great wins and especially the last one at home against Manchester City. So, keep this momentum and after that game we'll have a break so it’s the moment to go full gas, ready to go for it and try to approach it in the way that we believe is the best one to be in that final.

on whether he is frustrated that the club didn’t make a signing:

No, because when you try your best and you do things with the right process, and you see the people that we all share the same intentions with and wills, and after you don’t achieve it, okay there are things to learn from it, there always are but you have to move on. That’s a piece that was important in the moment and now we have to move on, and nobody knows whether it is better to have done it or not, and we’ll find that out at the end of the season.

on whether there is more scope to make a signing in the summer:

I don’t know, what I mean about that [being disciplined] is in everything in the kind of profile, in the kind of player that we believe can really make us much better. Financially, there are a lot of ways that we must stay in the lane that has taken us this far and from there, to try to improve.

on whether he is considering Nwaneri as a centre forward:

We’re going to have to be very flexible in the frontline and now the ones that we have in our feet, make sure they stay fit and keep contributing. Leo can play in that position, Raheem has played in that position, Ethan I think can play in that position, Martinelli can play there so let’s see in relation to how everybody is; the moment and opponent, but at some point, we’re going to have to try something different.

on whether he can confirm a Dubai trip after Newcastle:

I think it’s coming!

on how he will approach the trip:

There are a lot of things that will be similar, the location, where we are staying, where we train, but of course we will have to modify it. We are going at a different moment of the season with different numbers, and probably the team needs a different stimulus, so we are preparing a few things and hopefully it will work like it has the last few times.

on Nwaneri approaching the record for most goals scored before 18:

I didn’t know about that record. The only thing that I want from him is that he continues to do what he has been doing and plays with freedom and tenacity when he is on the pitch. He has the ability to make it happen, and whether he does that or not will be a matter of time.

on whether the right player wasn’t available in this window:

I wouldn’t like to go into too much detail. We couldn’t do it for certain reasons and we have to accept it, that’s it. It was a combination of things.

on whether he was worried about upsetting the balance of the characteristics of his squad:

No, that wasn’t part of it. That wasn’t an issue with any player that we were trying to find.

on whether it’s a gamble not to make the squad bigger:

It’s not a gamble, it’s reality. We have to face the reality of what we have. We have the players that we have, some of them are on loan, we have never had a squad of 35, 40, 45 players. So many other clubs have 45 players on their list, we don’t have that size at the moment. That’s our reality. We have had to do so much in the last few years, that’s where we are. We are going to have to evolve there as well, and have more and have more players from the academy, and the ones that are here to be fitter longer. That is a job that’s permanent. It keeps evolving and we need to be on our toes.

on whether he is worried that he doesn’t have enough numbers to compete:

Now I focus on the number that I have, how to maximise them, how to make the best out of them. With all the problems we have already had, we are in February, and I think it’s remarkable what the team has done, so I have full faith in them.

on whether Kai Havertz will thrive on being the number one striker:

Kai has played so many games, and been so important when other players, some big players as well, were available. So it’s not because a player is not coming into his position that he’s going to be more important. In my opinion it’s nothing to do with that.


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