Mikel Arteta faces the media ahead of Arsenal’s UEFA Champions League clash with PSV Eindhoven. With a 7-1 lead from the first-leg away in the Netherlands, there is an odd feel to this game which the Gunners’ boss needs to navigate.
The team have welcomed back Gabriel Martinelli into the fold who came on as a substitute against Manchester United. This game presents as a great chance to help build up the Brazilian’s match fitness.
It will also be a chance to give some players more minutes who have struggled to get game time with the established starters in the side. Players like Ben White, Jakub Kiwior, Kieran Tierney, Jorginho and Raheem Sterling.
Who Arteta wants to use and how strong he would like to go remains to be seen. We will also hear from one of the Arsenal players ahead of the match too to get an insight into the group.
You can hear everything Arteta has to say on all that and much more with football.london's chief Arsenal correspondent Tom Canton in our live blog below.
Saliba on wanting to be the best
I think I am not so far, but I am not the best. This season I have not been so good.
On telling Arteta he can play striker
It was a joke. I know I can play striker but others can play it.
Yeah, if the coach needs me there, I will be there.
On winning 11 aerial duels and being described as a collosus
I like being a collosus. It's a good stat, but I can do better I think.
On playing tomorrow
I dont know if I'm playing tomorrow, maybe tonight or tomorrow. I want to play it's a Champions League game.
Every word from the press conference
Mikel Arteta faced the media ahead of the game with PSV in the UEFA Champions League. With the strangeness of the game, it was always going to be intriguing where the conversations went.
Team news was discussed, with additional insight into Gabriel Martinelli and Ben White’s return from injuries. However, the predominant questions did revolve around the title race, the gap to Liverpool and the lack of trophies.
Read every word from the press conference as Arteta faced the media here.
We will have an Arsenal player up soon, stay with us!
Likely to be some good stuff to come from them.
On qualities he wants in a sporting director
Alignment with the board that this is the right person to take this forward as a club.
On the emphasis on Odegaard being the creative force
Yeah the spaces can be in different situations in relation to what the team does. You need threats in behind.
On the what if of Madrid?
Well since the day that we had the teams in the group stages you are looking at the others for sure.
On the season being potentially trophyless again
We are not there yet. The way I describe failure would be different to yours or anyone else.
How would you describe it?
That's for me.
On being second again
I don't know. If somebody would say that with the injury that we have and the decisions we've had.
Premier League or UCL?
I'm very lucky because I don't have to choose. We have four at the start of the season.
On the races in both competitions
It's a competition that we have a lot of enthusiasm, very consistent. Tomorrow can put us in exciting position.
On finishing after a poor few league games
There is always improvement and we've already talked about a lot of situations we could have done better.
Team news
Yeah everybody finished the game against man United. So I expect the same players to be available.
I expect Gabby to be available.
Still some time it seems
The UEFA branding has only just gone up behind Mikel Arteta's chair so it might be a little bit... it might not...
Martin Keown raises Champions League flaw
Arsenal will face PSV looking to confirm their place in the last eight of the UEFA Champions League having won the first leg 7-1 in Eindhoven. Barring a European miracle, or nightmare from the Gunners' point of view, Mikel Arteta should oversee the most pre-approved saunter into the quarter-final.
However, this will indeed be the last time that the Gunners will play the second leg of this season's competition at their own ground. After the draw was made to decide who the Gunners' last-16 opponents would be, the bracket leading to the final was also decided.
Arsenal will play both the quarter-final and semi-final, should they make it, at home in the first leg. This is, without doubt, the worst outcome for the club who were knocked out last season in the second leg away to Bayern Munich.
Read the full story here.
Ruben Amorim on Arsenal: Accurate or Arrogant?
Arsenal and Manchester United played out a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford, which all but ended the Gunners' hopes of winning the title, while for United, it took them a point closer to what remains an unlikely top-half finish. Ruben Amorim set up in yet another low block against Arsenal and got what it appeared they came for.
Either team could have won it with the chances created in the second half, but both lacked the finishing and quality to grasp that chance. While talk after the match focused more so on the game in isolation and the familiar problems present in the Arsenal side, there were some lingering comments from before the match between the sides from Ruben Amorim which are worthy of further discussion.
Asked about the job that Arteta has done at Arsenal, particularly around the rebuilding of the squad, Amorim made reference to what he describes as a difference between the clubs and that he will not be afforded the time that Arteta got to build his team.
Read the full story here.
Welcome!
Hello and welcome to football.london's coverage of Mikel Arteta pre-match press conference after the Gunners' clash with PSV.
You can hear everything Arteta has to say on all that and much more with football.london's chief Arsenal correspondent Tom Canton in our live blog below. Updates to follow...
