How’s Saka?
We will know now. We have a training session in a few hours and we will know if he’s fit or not.
Everyone else?
Everyone else seems OK.
How pleased were you with the changes the other night?
I was pleased with the result, the performance and the fact that everybody responded in the way we expected. When you make changes, there is this possibility, because the boys haven’t played much. But they were really, really good.
How happy was Smith Rowe?
You could see that. I think a good example is Reiss as well. The previous game he was not in the squad and the next game he’s ready to start. If someone doesn’t react the way he did after then you’re not ready to perform. I’m really pleased with that reaction from him and the rest of the team. And then Emile was really strong in the game.
Do you think the four away games could be decisive in the title race?
Yes but at home as well. We have the Champions League games as well. Every game in this league is extremely difficult. Look at what happened last night again. Everybody is suffering a lot to win. We’re going to have a really tough opponent with Brighton so we have to prepare well and try to be better than them and try to win.
Did you have two screens for the two games last night?
I was watching a bit of both to be fair. I stayed till late because the game, especially Chelsea vs Man U was worth it.
It’s fantastic. It’s unbelievable the league that we’re involved in. It’s a joy the level and the quality that they show.
Were you sitting there in a Sheffield United shirt?
No.
Partey said his head is here and he wants to stay. How do you use him for the rest of the season and do you want him to stay?
He’d better have his head here, because we are playing for big things. That’s what we expect. We need him. He’s a top player and important for us, you could see the other day on the pitch the impact that he can have for us.
Any news on his contract?
He’s our player, he’s got one more year’s contract and I’m really happy with him.
Havertz has made his most goal contributions ever in English football. How pleased are you with him?
Yes very pleased. He’s got incredible qualities, to occupy spaces in different ways, to thread the ball, to link up play and to give you that lay out as well.
Not only that but I think defensively his contribution is outstanding. For the team, the effort that he puts and his high press especially. But he’s got more to come. He needs to improve those numbers and I’m sure he’ll try to do it.
So he’s not hit his best yet?
I don’t think so at his age. He just started with us. In the first season he’s building those relationships. We moved him in different positions and he’s that good that he could be better.
You’ve conceded just four goals in 2024. How happy are you with that?
Yeah for sure, because I talked about organisation of the team in the defensive phase and the desire that the players have to keep clean sheets, to defend well and make life difficult for the opponents.
That gives us a big platform. On the weekend that’s going to be a really important thing because they are a top side.
What do you make of the job De Zerbi has done?
Very impressed. He’s a top manager with top coaching staff. An unbelievable football club. What they’ve done deserves great credit. They’re now fighting with the top clubs.
I think they’ve done a magnificent job. Roberto has given them a clear style and a very attractive style and they’re very tough for the opponent.
You’ve scored the most and conceded the least. What more do you need to do to win the league?
Win more games. We’re still not at the top. We have to transform that by winning and winning and winning. It’s the only way to have the chance at the end of the season.
Do you find it amazing that there’s still teams above you despite that record?
This is the level. It’s been the level the last six or seven years in this league. The margins are so small. Let’s see. We’ll have to see those numbers at the end. If they’re maintained we’ll have a good chance.
Which record you most proud of?
Only the winning one. The one that I want is the winning one. Obviously the process is super important and we want that to reflect in the outcome, which is what we are hoping for.
De Zerbi wanting sleep before Arsenal – what does that say about your team?
We all think the same about the opponent. I have the same feeling about them. We finished the game and straight away I was into Brighton.
What are we going to do, how are we going to select the best line-up and the things that we have to plan. To train the way we have to, to have the right recovery and to win again.
Three teams always playing at different times – will you sometimes stay away from watching?
I don’t know, I have to feel it. Every game will be different and I think my wife and kids will have a big say on that as well! My little one will come and wants to play with lego, go outside to play football or do something else. I think i will watch a part of the majority of those games but it will be with them.
Do we underestimate how much stopping the opposition first is part of your coaching identity?
If you want to be dominant in games and suffocate the opponent, you have to have the ball. When you have it you have to use it in the best way with the maximum threat and when you don’t you need to win it as quickly as possible, as far up the pitch as possible.
0If you cannot do that then you have to do something else but they all know how important it is, every phase of play to be fair.
Blend of Spanish football with British organisation?
Obviously I have learned a lot from all of my coaches. David is a really good example not only on that (defensive) sense but many other things that he does that I really admire. You try to pick things from them and then blend it to make it your own.
Chaotic games like Chelsea-Man U a rarity for Arsenal now…
We have been involved in a few of those, just not that recently. As a spectator and football fan I think it was a hell of a game.
Worried Saka going to burnout?
No. I am super positive. I think he is going to fly and be so decisive.
Confidence because of his ability in past to recover?
Yeah. I think [my confidence is] because he is so strong, how much he wants it when you talk to him and how excited he is about what is coming. He wants to be there and he is getting better and better. It is normal, you have little niggles, you have kicks. He has gone through a lot of that in the last two or three years, and look at the way he is performing.
Difficult few years for Smith Rowe, still view him as a big part of project?
Yeah. I just look at him and what happened in the last seasons especially, but what happened three seasons [ago] as well. Take all that. It is the best thing that could have happened for him in his career – if he uses it the right way now. So, don’t look back and say: ‘Ah, if, if’. No, this happened, use it. ‘That was the best thing that could have happened, I had great moments, I had difficult moments, now I know what I want, how to deal with that. That is going to make me a much better player’. And, you could see, the hell of a player that we have in him when he is fit and he is playing at that level.
Rob Edwards says you have no weaknesses – agree with that?
That’s probably managers. We see all the time what we don’t have than what we actually have but it is good to hear from other managers what they think about the team. But we can still evolve a lot and we will try to do that.”
What can you improve?
