Every word Mikel Arteta said on Man City, player celebrations, Arsenal transfers and Lewis-Skelly

Mikel Arteta was in an excellent mood for his post-match Arsenal press conference following his side’s 5-1 win over Manchester City. While there were some serious matters discussed, his elation at his side’s performance was evident from his mood throughout.

He discussed the reasons behind the victory, the fortune of the goals’ timings and what it does for the side. He was also asked by football.london about the hope for transfer deadline day and faced some tough questions regarding his players' celebrations regarding Erling Haaland which provided a glimpse at his stance on his own expectations.

You can read every word from the press conference which football.london was in attendance for here.

Mikel, it's very rare that you get games like this, after games like this. How much did you enjoy that person watching from the sidelines?

Watching during the game, so-so, maybe at the end a little bit more than usual, but it's a great day for us, for the result, for the manner that we've done it, and especially against the level of their position that we played today.

And then also just being clinical, because I think you've been criticised a lot for not being clinical enough, but you took chances today.

Yeah, to beat them in the manner that we've done, a lot of things have to go your way. You know, we were very aggressive, we played with a lot of courage, we went without the ball, and our high press, with the limits are really, really thin. We scored a goal, should have scored another one. Clearly, and after the one, even if you wanted, they are that good, but sometimes you just have to stay deep, and defend deep, and suffer, and enjoy those moments as well. We had a bit of luck in certain moments, and then we had the opportunity, I think we were our intentions, our aggression with the ball, how we wanted to hurt them, and the way we finished the actions, exceptional.

To win like that against a team like Manchester City, where does that rank in your achievements?

I don't know, just enjoy the day. I think it's something that we will learn from as well, and understand still that a lot of things have to go your way to win in that manner. One of the main things, again, is to create the unbelievable energy that we created in the stadium. I mean, we cannot waste one minute without playing with that, because I think it infects the team, transforms the team, and it makes it really difficult for the opposition. And then for the players to believe that we can compete against anybody in our day, when we play at that level individually and collectively, we compete at that level, and I think it's going to be very helpful for the future.

After the first goal Gabriel celebrated in Haaland's face, when Myles scored he celebrated doing the Haaland celebration. How much do you think the game in September had an impact on this and your team?

I don't know, I haven't seen that, and there's nothing that I want to discuss about that, down to the players, but they know my view on it, and we have to focus on us.

Do you feel that there's something in the psychology of the team changing, that they feel they can do so much more now, and what it brings them going forward?

Well, I think your emotional state in any sport at this level is crucial, it's how you feel about yourself, how you feel about the team, the confidence, the trust in your ability, and how you are looking at your position, and that took some years as well, and a lot of good decisions, but it's down to the player, when they play with that tenacity, it's because they believe that they can win, and they can face to face the opposition, and that's the best thing, after the outcome, you can win or lose, because both teams are really good, but what I like is the attitude.

Did you tell them at half-time to go for it a bit more, because it was a more cagey first half?

Yeah, but I think you want it, and we had great moments in the first half, you really want it, they are that good that they can't, in the second half, they wanted certain things, and we didn't allow them to do it as well, and you have to navigate, there are a lot of micro-games within the game, when you play this kind of opposition, and you have to be happy to be in each phase of that game, if not, you don't win anything.

Less than two years ago, Myles Lewis-Skelly scored an FA Youth Cup goal against Manchester City to win the game, it's been quite a rise since then, what were your emotions like when that ball from him hit the back of the net?

I wasn't expecting it! I was talking, by the way, today with one of our staff members about that, that he needs to threat more in the final third when he gets in this position, and Ricci did it the other day against Wolves, and our full-backs now, generating these kind of changes, same with Jurrien, he adds threat, he adds a different problem to the opposition, so, great.

It's fair to say the fans got a huge boost off the back of that, I think they'd get an even bigger boost if tomorrow was also a good day, are you hoping tomorrow will be a really good day?

I don't know, my phone has been off with transfer window, forbidden to call me, to text me about any of that, my focus was that that's the best preparation we can have for Wednesday, and that was the only thing I was interested in.

Another one on Myles, you mentioned tenacity, it felt like he, as an 18-year-old, was almost setting the tone for that, could you reflect a bit on his character as well as his performance?

That's on him, you know, he's been in the academy, he's got it inside him, he feels it and he's very good at expressing it as well, and some players struggle with that. He does it in every action, he does it with his body language, he does it with his facial expression, how he lives the game, and then with the ball, because he takes it and he wants to make things happen, he takes risks, he takes initiative, and at his age that's not easy to see.

It's such a dream having so many talented young players come through, you've got Bukayo, when you arrived there you've got Ethan, Myles…

It's fantastic. There's a lot of work that has to be done in the academy, a lot of people that have contributed to that, and hopefully, they are really proud because a big part of their success is a lot of people that have been in that process.

Just going back to the question about the players, mimicking Haaland, you said in your answer that the players know your view on that, what is your view?

We have to focus on us and leave anything that happens, it's part of the game on the pitch, whatever happens there, I think we've been in football a long time, just leave it, there's nothing there to do.

In the Amazon documentary, we've seen you use comments from opponents in the past in your team talks; you didn't do that with what Haaland said before, is that right?

No.

Your thoughts on Raya's performance, obviously it pulled off two great saves, how crucial were they and the moments in the game?

That's when we talk, a lot of things have to go your way, and in those moments you have to be very efficient, you need a bit of luck, you need an individual action, we had it all today, that's why the result reflects that distance, because a lot of things go our way today.

And this season you've given quite a few opportunities to both the Ethan and Myles, what is it about them that made you put the faith in them initially and they've obviously gone on to pay dividends, what was the impetus for that?

That I believe in them, that we believe in them when I put them next to the boys, they feel that with them, they are as good or better, and that's really, really important. They play with a lot of purpose, and they play truly to contribute and to make things happen, that's what I like about both of them.

Pep said that the third goal was the one that really killed them, but if Thomas Partey hadn't scored that second goal so quickly after they came back, it could have been a very different game.

Yeah, that's another thing that went our way, because, emotionally, I think that was a turning point, we reacted so quickly, had a bit of luck in that action, and that set the tone for the team in the stadium as well, to go and win the game. And then after that I think the team took a different level, growing confidence, they started to control the game much better and dominate certain areas much better, and we went and win it from there.