Every word from Mikel Arteta’s post-Fulham presser | Press conference | News

After seeing us beat Fulham 3-0 to move six points clear at the top of the Premier League table, Mikel Arteta was soon in the Emirates Stadium press room answering questions from the journalists in attendance.

He spoke about Myles Lewis-Skelly’s display, the freshness in the team, momentum and Bukayo Saka being back to his best, among other topics.

Here is everything he had to say:

on the performance:
I’m very happy with the team performance, and the individual performances within that performance. We knew how difficult it was going to be, especially coming back from Madrid so late on Thursday afternoon and the energy that we spent in that game, and understanding that you don’t want to talk about it if you have a huge game in a few days here. But we talked about hunger and about having the ability to focus and be so determined on what we had to do. 

We had some fresh legs from a few players. You could notice that big time because the individual performance increased and then the team flowed in a different way. The moment that we did that, I think we engaged the supporters and when that happens and you create the atmosphere that you saw at the Emirates, we make it very, very difficult for the opponent.

on Lewis-Skelly starting:
He fully deserves it. I’ve been tough on him. He had a spectacular season last year when he jumped into the first team. He had some difficult moments after that, but he stayed very humble, very focused, very aligned with what we wanted to do, and I knew he was ready. He’s been showing in training every day the opportunities that he had to play. He’s done it and today he really stepped up and I thought he had an incredible performance.

on the nature of the victory:
It was a critical game because we know the importance of the win and the manner in which we’ve done it, the whole difference in the Premier League and because this game was going to carry a lot of energy towards the next game, and it’s certainly going to do that. Now we have one of the biggest games in the history of this stadium, for sure on Tuesday, in front of our people and we’re going to try to make it happen.

on whether he’ll be watching the Man City match:
What do you think? Yes, because I love football and it’s so much at stake. I will be there.

on things starting to click for Gyokeres:
He had a great performance, I think in Madrid especially the first half he was really good. Today the minutes that he’s played as well, his contribution with the goals. In every attacking action he was involved, scored two great goals, position-wise, timing-wise as well, something that we’ve been working on. It’s going to give him a big boost of energy and confidence to the team as well.

on Saka and Gyokeres forming a better partnership:
Yes, they haven’t played together much unfortunately because of the injuries that we had, but there are relationships that I really enjoyed today.

on Saka being back to his best:
He certainly made a difference. He made two actions that decided the game and we know what he’s capable of. He’s come back in the most important period of the season and now he’s fresh, his mind is fresh, his hunger is at the highest possible height and I think he needed a performance like that to impact the team, so that’s a big platform for Tuesday.

on Saka coming off at half-time:
We had to, he played 30-odd minutes in Madrid, now he’s played 45 minutes. We need to ramp up his load but we need to be careful because we need him on that pitch.

on Lewis-Skelly playing in midfield and why it’s taken so long to play him there:
Because probably I don’t have a clue and maybe I should have done it earlier, I don’t know. But I have to do things when I believe that the player is ready, the team is ready and the opponent is the right one to play with him in that position. We’ve done it today, it’s the first time. It was a big risk because I knew what was going to happen, if he wasn’t this great, we would have lost the game. How do you play a kid at this age, in this scenario, in a position that he hasn’t played all season? I knew that but I had the feeling that it was the right game for him.

on his gratitude to our supporters post-match:
I appreciate the behaviour and the energy that they brought to the stadium because it makes such a difference. When you feel that connection with them, we are much, much better. I know that it has to come from us, it certainly came from us today but we need to do it somehow, even when the team is not giving them probably the right reasons, because with that, it’s very, very difficult for the opponent.

on it being possibly the best first-half performance of the season:
Probably, I don’t know, I have to go through all the games but it certainly was one of the best and the words that you use, I certainly agree with them. There was a certain connection in the team that I had a feeling that it was going to provoke that. You have to be really neat and those connections happened because we had some freshness as well, which individually if you want to see those actions, you need it in your legs to deliver them constantly and to see the things that we saw today.

on the result fueling our momentum in the title race:
That’s what we want. Use that momentum, energy and belief towards Tuesday. We’re certainly going to need that, so when I look at the atmosphere in the dressing room, I think it’s tracking in the right direction.

on Saka putting his Achilles issues behind him:
I think the pain is gone and that was obviously something that was restricting his capacity to deliver certain actions. Today he felt loose, he felt relaxed and I think we had the Bukayo that we need back.

on what message does the result send to Man City:
It says to us and to our dressing room that we keep the dream alive, that what these guys have done, not now but throughout the season to win that many amount of games, in the circumstances that we had to do it, without so many players not available at times is remarkable, so it’s great because I think it’s going to help for Tuesday.

on Per Mertesacker leaving at the end of the season:
He’s a legend of this club. I think what he did as a player, we were teammates, I have a great relationship with him,and then what he has done for this club in the academy and in every level and I think he leaves a legacy that is going to stay here for a long, long time. On the human side, he’s one of the best people that I have met in football and then as a professional as well, he really has made a lot of difference in those young kids and their families to fulfil a dream.