Arteta: “The team clicked immediately” | Interview | News
Mikel Arteta praised his players’ energy and efficiency in Saturday’s 3-0 win over Fulham.
Coming just two days after we returned from Spain for our Champions League semi-final first leg, we blew away the Cottagers with a scintillating first-half display, and never looked back after taking a ninth-minute lead.
The result sent us six points clear at the top of the Premier League table, with three matches left to play, and afterwards the manager admitted he was delighted with what he saw from his team.
“I’m really, really happy,” he said. “I think it was a big performance, a very strong team performance, and a very impressive individual performance as well from the boys. We came back from Madrid on Thursday afternoon, also playing a game that took a lot from us, energy-wise, mentally, but the team responded incredibly well.
“We had some fresh legs in the team, and you could notice that, and the team clicked, connected immediately, especially in the attacking phase, and then with our supporters, which is very important as well. And the moment that that combination happens, we make it so hard for the opponent.”
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We were on the front foot from the first whistle against Fulham, despite the team showing five changes from our previous Premier League game last weekend, and Arteta said he saw the right signs from his players even before matchday.
“I got a really good feeling on Thursday when we had a meeting before we got on the plane, because we talked about everything that we have to do now,” he revealed.
“It’s about energy and showing how much we want it, and that hunger. And the team clicked immediately, the boys delivered what we planned against a really tough opponent, and we were very efficient.”
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The boss also had words of praise for his centre forward Viktor Gyokeres, who took his tally for the season to 21, with his first-half double, coming either side of an assist for Bukayo Saka’s goal.
The Swede has become only the second player in the past 25 years to reach the 20-goal mark for us in his debut season.
“It gives some perspective of the difficulty and what Viktor is doing for us,” Mikel said. “We need players in a big and positive emotional state now, and he’s certainly one of those. He feels confident, he’s scoring very important goals as well, and that’s going to be key for Tuesday.”
Looking ahead to Tuesday’s Champions League semi-final second leg against Atletico Madrid, with the tie finely poised at 1-1, the boss added: “I can’t wait. I saw the energy now in the dressing room and we are all ready for it. Let’s create something unique and let’s get to the final.”
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