It was an afternoon of mixed emotions for Mikel Arteta.
While he had to settle for a point in his first game as our head coach, he was still encouraged by the attitude and character we showed after going a goal down at Bournemouth.
Arteta faced the media after the game – and this is a full transcript of what he said:
on his first game as our head coach…
I’m very pleased with some of the things I’ve seen, in terms of attitude, character, the passion we showed, and the fight and spirit the team showed. It was spot on. Probably better than I expected over 90 minutes. A lot of things that happened in the game, we prepared. They understood them and they tried to take them on board. We lacked the final product at the end.
on how frustrating it was to lack that final product…
It would’ve been great because it would’ve given us a better lift in terms of the energy and confidence of the team, but we have to analyze the performance. There are positives to take and obviously is a lot of room for improvement in other areas.
on how much psychological work is required to lift players…
It will be a process. I was worried about what would happen if we conceded a goal. We did and I was very pleased with the character they showed. They came in at half-time and their faces, their reactions [were spot on]. It was about how much they wanted it. Normally, when you are in this process and you concede a goal, the confidence goes down and a lot of things that have happened in the past can come back. It didn’t happen, it happened in the completely opposite sense and that’s a really positive thing to take on board.
on how he found being the head coach…
Very good to do that and I’m quite used to [substitutions and tactical changes] because I always suggested things that happened during the game. I have really good people around me to give me advice as well with things that happened. I felt comfortable and wet!
on Mesut Ozil’s performance…
To be fair his attitude in training since the day that I walked in the building has been incredible. I’ve seen this. I’ve said that I was going to give a clean slate to everybody and it was fair to give it to him. When we did the game preparation and were watching the opponents, where we could hurt them, we believed that he could be a key point. We prepared the game like this with him. He responded, did what he had to do, and we could’ve scored two or three goals because of him.
