Every word from Arteta’s pre-West Ham presser | Press conference | News

We travel across London to West Ham United for a huge Premier League clash on Sunday, May 10.

Mikel Arteta faced the media before our London Stadium showdown, previewing our opponents and turning our attentions to the Premier League title race.

Read every word from Mikel’s press conference below, with a video from the Sobha Realty Training Centre to follow.

on if there are any fresh injury concerns:
No, everybody finished the game well and nothing to add, I think.

on Merino and Timber:
No chance for the weekend.

on if we’ll see them before the end of the season:
I don’t know, there’s still a fair bit to do, so everything has to be so smooth and quick if they want to have a chance to play any minutes.

on facing PSG in the Champions League final:
It is what it is. We knew the level of the opposition that we had to face, either way, Bayern Munich or PSG. We know the quality that they have, and that’s it. But obviously, we’re also very confident that when we get to that moment, we’re going to deliver what we need to.

on how powerful our unity can be for the final four games of the season:
It’s crucial, immense and needed, because what they can provide when we get the stadium into that emotional state, to that level of connection with the players, it’s just incredible. The players described it, they’re the most important ones and they described it like they never had that feeling before in the stadium, and they make them better.

on people who criticised how we celebrated after beating Atletico Madrid:
First of all I didn’t know about it, but I don’t know, I think you have to respect every opinion and place them where they belong.

on where he places those opinions:
Where they belong. I don’t know, that’s not important.

on if the noise makes us stronger:
I’m assuming that that criticism is positive and negative? I’m assuming, I want to talk about criticism that is positive and negative, and that’s what makes you better, when you want to set higher standards and performance levels that can give you the chance to compete for the two most prestigious competitions in Europe, you have to be prepared for that because you know the challenge and difficulty of it, and it does make you better, that’s for certain.

on if he’s had to refocus the players ahead of Sunday:
We talked immediately after the game, and this is great, what a moment, we earned it, we’ll have time to prepare and get ready for that final, but now the focus, the attention, the detail, the energy, everything has to be put into West Ham, there is nothing else there, and we made it very clear.

on his feeling and messaging to players and supporters:
Stay present, live the moment, prepare and show the same level of energy, hunger and desire that we’ve shown all season, or more, because, as you said, we are closer and closer, and everything that we do now is going to matter to win it or not.

on the timing of the decision to play Lewis-Skelly in midfield:
I think it’s been a process of, probably understanding him better, him understanding as well the standards that are required when you play or don’t play that much at this level, to understand the reasons why you play or don’t play as well, and then he’s been exceptional, his attitude, the way he’s been trained, the way he’s been supporting the boys when he hasn’t played, and he’s given us every sign to think that when we were going to give him the chance he was going to respond in the manner that he’s done it. But after he’s done it, and it’s not easy, especially when you haven’t played that much, to look that confident, that energetic, that playing with that determination, it’s something that is surprising.

on how enjoyable it’s been to work with Saka:
A joy. I feel extremely lucky, I said it from the beginning, to find somebody at the club that you can lean into at any level. Knowing that he’s going to respond. Knowing that his heart is in the right place. Knowing that everything that he does comes from certain values, certain education, certain principles. It’s been a joy. On the human level, I think we know him. And on the football level, what he has provided to this club, and what he did the other night, is just remarkable.

on this weekend’s London derby having a big jeopardy for both sides:
Understanding the context of the game for both clubs, it’s huge, obviously. We know the importance of it, we know what we want, and what we have to do to win the game.

on how he’s felt since reaching the final:
I was in a really high emotional state after the game, obviously, because we know what it means to everybody, to the club. You could tell what it means to everybody, to our supporters, players, staff. Straight after the game, you have to believe me, straight after that, my concentration, my focus, my energy was, ‘ok, West Ham, what do we have to do on the mental side, physically, tactically, technically, to prepare in the best possible way to go there and win the game?’ That’s it.

on if he can allow himself time to enjoy this stage of the season:
I enjoy every day. I enjoy every day with the boys, with the staff. I love what I do, so I feel very privileged with what I do. I enjoy it, but those periods are very short. I enjoy preparing a lot, the game against West Ham now, and understanding what we have to do, trying to pick the right topic, trying to understand very well our players, the situation that we’re going to generate in the game, how the game can pan out, how we can change it if we need to. So, that’s what I like.

on if the next few weeks are the biggest in his career:
Yes, but that’s if and if football doesn’t work, we have to do it. What we’re going to do today, what we’ve done today, that’s a fact. That’s the most important thing, and tomorrow we’re going to have to do what it takes to be in the best mood, physically and mentally, to get ready for the battle that we have on Sunday.

on Rice growing into a man here after signing from West Ham:
Yes, he was already really well developed, I would say. He’s been outstanding for us, he’s one of our leaders, one of the main players without a doubt. What he’s doing for the club, for the team, is just very powerful.

on Gyokeres’ hold-up play improving:
(I’ve noticed it) from the beginning. I think some of the things you see, certain improvements from players, the work probably hasn’t been done a day or two days before – it’s been done through months. Maybe months ago, but it hasn’t happened overnight. Viktor has been working extremely hard, the demands he puts on himself are extremely high. He always wants to learn, he’s always asking questions, he always wants to do extra things. He’s always trying to find ways to find those connections with his teammates – whether that be in the canteen, in the dressing room or on the pitch. At the end, when you have that kind of behaviour, you get rewards.

on if it was always the plan to play Eze on the left at Man City and Lewis-Skelly in midfield against Fulham and Atletico:
There is something related to your intuition – what the game is going to require, the state of the players, the way you can imagine the game and where the players will have the most impact. You can get it right or wrong, you never know – but if you do what you feel, at least you have the certainty that you’ve done the preparation, you’ve done the thinking, and when it’s time to deliver, that’s something else.

on the five-phase plan:
Can we (speak about it) at the end of the season?

on what phase we’re in now:
I don’t know, I’m lost! It doesn’t matter, the phase.

on being four games from realising what was laid out six years ago:
At the moment, it doesn’t matter. Let’s live in the present, and when we have time, we can talk about that, if we got the timings right, every decision right – but the most important thing is, what the outcome is when it comes to the end of May.

on Raya making saves in big moments:
First of all, he’s been exceptional; his level of consistency since he joined the club has been something that probably nobody expected. I think he has reached a level that is incredibly high. Sometimes I think we take some of the things he does as normal when they’re not – he has responded in crucial moments. Obviously, I think the team deserves a lot of credit for that as well, because the work everybody puts in that phase for the third consecutive season, to achieve (the Golden Glove), is incredible.

on what we’ve been understanding better about Lewis-Skelly lately:
I need to push Myles Lewis-Skelly hard, to understand how he’s feeling. He’s a boy that was playing with the under-18s, under-21s, sometimes he wasn’t even playing, he was playing in a different position. He comes in, he comes through, he plays in a completely different position that he’s ever played before, he’s exceptional, everybody’s talking about him, he goes to the national team.

He comes back from pre-season, and then he starts to realise that maybe he’s not going to be a starter. So you need to go through those emotions, not only you, but the people next to you as well, the people that are giving you advice, and you have to navigate through that, and that’s not easy, I understand that. It’s easy when it goes so well for you, but when it goes the other way, the temptation is going to start to point to people, and I need to understand that, and I need to guide him, and I need to give him my perspective, the reasons why he wasn’t playing that much, and he took it on board. Not the first one, after three or four times, I think he realised, OK, I think if it’s not this way, I don’t think it’s going to happen.

on how important it is to have key players available now:
Very important, it was to witness the quality that we had on the bench the other night, if you compare that to a year ago, that’s a very different picture. We have managed in the last week or so as well to have some more players fresher, and you could sense that as well, and as I said from the beginning, that’s the most important thing, if we have that, we have a bigger chance to achieve the goals.

on if every game now is an audition for the final:
I don’t think they think like this because they know the audition is every single day in training, and what they are doing and giving us the headache, like they have been giving us all season, but especially the last few weeks as well.

on being able to play White and Saka together:
When you talk about the right units, for example, I think the amount of minutes that they’ve played this season has been extremely low for different circumstances, and it’s great that they have a really good connection, a really good understanding, they have played many years together, and you can sense and notice that in a really positive way.

on if Timber’s injury has been more complicated than expected:
Yes, and that’s probably been the most difficult thing to manage with the player, with myself as well, because we didn’t expect it to take so long, and at the moment, he’s not fit to play.