Arteta on Sterling's confidence, Nwaneri's development, Martinelli & more
09/14/2024 03:26 AM
In the second part of his pre-north London derby press conference, Mikel Arteta spoke about Raheem Sterling’s hunger to join Arsenal, Ethan Nwaneri’s development in the last 12 months and Gabriel Martinelli’s place in the squad.
Arteta on a huge week and the need to start with a big performance…
It certainly sets the tone in many moments in the season because when you play those big matches, big stages, there’s a lot at stake, it’s a very emotional game as well, when you’re able to perform and deliver and win those games, it’s a huge boost. We know that and that’s why we’re going to try so hard.
On knowing he wanted to sing Sterling within 10 seconds…
Because his first words to me were, “Please, I was dreaming of that call.” That’s it. That tells you he really wanted it, he was already thinking of that possibility and he could see himself here, delivering and enjoying his profession again. When that happens, the rest I knew about him so that took all the questions marks away.
On Guardiola crediting him with Sterling’s improvement at City and what they worked on…
This is the work of all the coaches and what we do, and the work of coaches here and how they try to improve every individual. At the end, Raheem did that because of his quality, he found as well the right environment because the way Pep put the team out there suited him in a way probably before it wasn’t that much. And then, he had an immense impact in the team and he was very successful.
On Sterling needing a structured environment to thrive…
Yeah, we’re going to try to give him everything that we believe is going to help him and empower him to get the best version of him. We will see daily how that looks.
On Sterling’s confidence levels after his spell at Chelsea…
That’s going to fluctuate in everybody’s career, obviously. Knowing him and how he is about always playing, always being present and being important, when you have that you start to go on a roll, for that to be changed, that hits you. We have to rebuild on that but we’ve got all the foundations and the right context fot him to get to the level that we want.
On the north London derby representing a perfect opportunity for Sterling to make a fresh start…
That’s one of the things I love most about Raheem, you can take him to any ground, anywhere in the world and he’s willing to be there to make the difference. That’s what you need at this level.
On Ethan Nwaneri’s development in the last year…
A huge development, big credit to everybody working in the academy, starting with the coaches, Jack [Wilshere], Mehmet [Ali], the coaches around him, Per [Mertesacker], that have prepared the player to be in the right position now to shine and be prepared for the different context and demands he’s going to be facing right now. He’s been doing really well, physically he’s really mature, personally really mature, his game understanding has improved a lot. Now we let him do. He has enormous quality, a lot of talent and he needs space to shine.
On Martinelli’s standing in the squad now that Sterling has joined…
Especially at this level, when we’re talking about what we have to do this week and the way we play and the demands that we have, we needed wingers with the ability to go one vs one, to attack spaces, to have the work rate that that two have, to increase the goal threat from every position and have players that can play in every position in the front line, especially as we have some injuries there in the past and we had to be protective. All of the players we have there have these qualities.
On Sterling being driven by a desire to prove his doubters wrong…
It always has to be in your tummy, whatever it is, whatever you’re looking for in the next stage, whether to move somewhere else, to prove a point, to change your role in the team, your status. Whatever it is, he has that. He wants to play.
On whether Sterling can get back in the England squad…
I don’t know what he wants. We’re going to try and manage him in the best possible way and put him on that pitch.
On a difficult week without key players…
It’s always the difficulty of the matches and the opponents we’re going to be facing, for sure, but we have tremendous players, we have a really good squad, we’re really hungry and to deliver what we want, we need to be able to respond in these scenarios and the team is ready.
On the importance of his relationship with the owners with regards to signing a new deal…
Instrumental, obviously. They showed a lot of trust and belief in me, I believe we have a special bond, a connection and share exactly the same vision. They’ve given us a lot of responsibility to take this club where we all want and not only them but a lot of people at the club that are very much aligned with what we want to do. We all have the same motivation.
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