Arteta on the stress of being a coach, Ben White's recovery & chasing Liverpool
Today at 07:06 PM
In the second half of his pre-West Ham press conference, Mikel Arteta touched on Ben White’s recovery from knee surgery, the stress and strains of being an elite-level coach and whether he believes his side can close a nine-point deficit on league leaders Liverpool.
Here’s what the Spaniard had to say…
On his side sometimes struggling to control games…
I talk about that particular moment [in the Sporting game] because after half-time you need to get through those 10-15 minutes in a different way. We gave so many balls away and that doesn’t allow you restarts, we [just] gave the ball away. And that gives them some confidence, they score the goal and then the game becomes a little bit more open. And after that, we did much better, so it was just for a period of time. Ideally for coaches, 96 minutes, you dominate that. It’s very difficult to do, especially when you play the kind of opponent that Sporting is now.
On his side needing to be ruthless and being better when they are on the attack…
Yeah, but in order to achieve that is a lot of things that you have to do really good. And there were periods when a lot of simple things, we did it not at our best. And then that has an impact, you lose territory, you lose the ball in areas that doesn’t allow you to press. So you have to sit a little bit deeper to get out of that situation. It’s tricky because every player is with their back to goal, so it’s easier to unlock that first press. So it’s a lot of things that are attached to that.
On Ben White’s recovery from knee surgery…
It’s still early days. The surgery went really well, there’s no reaction after that. He’s improving day by day, but it’s a process. The first four to six weeks we have to be really cautious, don’t put any stress on that knee. And then we’ll see how quickly, how fast and how the knee reacts after that.
On the stress of being a manager…
I don’t know, I love what I do. I love every minute of it. I take it like, these things are going to happen. If you want to be a coach, you’re going to lose football matches, you’re going to have tough periods. Most probably, you’re going to get sacked. It’s part of it. When I did my coaching badges, I said, I don’t know when, but one day it’s going to happen. If it doesn’t happen, okay, beautiful. So you have to go through that journey. It’s actually how you go through that journey, how you take it, how much perspective you have, what the people around you [are like], how much they can help you through it. And you’re going to suffer. In life, whatever you do, I’m sure you have difficult moments in your profession, there’s nothing where everything is beautiful, but you learn from it, take it on board and move forward.
On telling himself early on what to expect from life as a manager…
Well, that’s what I tried, because if not, I’m not going to enjoy it. I really want to, I mean, with the opportunity and the position that I’m in, if I don’t enjoy it, I think that would be crazy. That would be very selfish. It’s something that I don’t want to promote to my kids or my family. You know, I’ve been choosing to do this job, so I need to enjoy it. Losing a match, I hate it, absolutely hate it. It drives me mad, you know, I really suffer from it. But it’s a way to improve and do things differently and, okay, move on.
On his being squad capable of catching Liverpool despite their nine-point advantage…
Well, yes, we’ve been there. And to sustain it for ten months is extremely difficult. Everything has to go your way. And sadly, when you think that you have it, one day, plop, it collapses. And it can be through a result, it can be through injuries, it can be from other kinds of decisions. And it can happen in any moment. And we have to be ready for that. But again, it’s something that we don’t control. What we can control is what we can do and do that our very best.
On his side being best placed to reel in Liverpool…
I really believe in my team, yes.
On Manchester City struggling with injuries and whether he doubts their quality…
No, because even with those injuries, they deserve to win every game. It’s simple. You look at all the stats and everything that they do, they are always better than the opposition. They deserve to win the games. This is football. They deserve it. You don’t win it, OK? It’s for a reason.
On Arsenal hitting their stride in the last week…
It’s another game. Don’t take anything for granted. Just make the preparation the best that you possibly can. Focus, understand the difficulty, the importance of the game, and go with that mentality into the game to be at our best and go to win the game for sure.
On hating defeat and how that manifests itself…
It’s that pain. You suffer. You try to find the answers to a lot of things that are very difficult in the moment. Try to change decisions. It can come from other things. You can be upset with a performance, you can be upset for certain decisions, you can be upset for many ways, especially because you put so many hours, effort and energy into something and you don’t get it. Especially when you feel, I deserve to get it and I don’t get it. This game is so unpredictable. It is painful.
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