Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has been talking to the media earlier than Tuesday’s Champions League sport in opposition to Slavia Prague at Fortuna Area in Prague (kick-off 17:45 GMT).
Listed below are the important thing traces from his information convention:
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On group information: “Victor Gyokeres isn’t accessible, he hasn’t skilled at present, and we have to do some extra checks and scans to grasp the extent of the damage. I’m involved as a result of he doesn’t have any muscular points, and for him to depart the pitch as he was feeling one thing isn’t an excellent signal. We’ll announce the second we all know extra.”
Arteta added that it was about sustaining the “proper freshness” inside the squad amid fixture congestion, however mentioned he was delighted that the group “is competing in all competitions”.
On their sport being moved: “Hopefully by then they transfer our Premier League match as a result of to play two days later does not make any sense, clearly. We’ll now determine the date, and I’m positive they’ll change the Premier League date as properly.”
When requested whether or not a request had been made concerning scheduling, Arteta mentioned he “will depart that to the membership” and that they “are very clear on what’s the most effective factor and essentially the most logical date to play,” although he admitted they might “need to adapt to that.”
On Christian Norgaard: “Distinctive. I knew very clearly of the position that he was going to have and what he might add to the group, and he’s doing precisely that. He was in a very good second earlier than he received injured, and it took him some time to stand up to hurry. And now he’s having some extra minutes, and he’s accessible for tomorrow.”
The Gunners boss expressed his satisfaction with the group’s “collective organisation,” significantly in defence, and highlighted the “particular person behaviours” of his gamers as a key issue of their success.
On recurring muscular accidents to the forwards: “We checked out every little thing, however now we have 4 knees (knee accidents) with Gabriel Jesus, Kai Havertz, Madueke and Martin Odegaard, which could be very uncommon with all of them long-term. After which now we have muscular accidents with different gamers, which may occur and is going on at each membership. We’ve to face it, and now we have been doing it in an excellent approach.”
On assembly Tomas Rosicky: “I’ve at all times mentioned it – Tomas was certainly one of my favorite gamers to play with and if I’ve the possibility tomorrow and he’s accessible, we are going to see one another and I’ll give him a hug and discuss a little bit bit about soccer.”
Arteta mentioned he has been getting ready for a “actually powerful match” in opposition to a Slavia Prague aspect that has been collectively for a while, noting they’re “unbeaten at residence all season and create an enormous environment”.