Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta described his side’s win over Crystal Palace as the most ‘valuable’ of the season so far, seeing his side record yet another clean sheet this term.
He faced questions on a range of topics, including Arsenal’s injury updates, results from other fixtures, Eberechi Eze’s display against his former club, and several other key talking points.
Speaking on the importance of Arsenal’s victory, Arteta said:
“I just told the boys that I probably value this victory more than any other victory this season, because we knew the difficulty of it after playing every three days. We had a big opportunity as well with the things that happened during this weekend, and I knew we played against a team that, in my opinion, has been one of the best recently in terms of organization, how difficult they make it, how frustrated they can make you, and the moment that you lose that concentration, they will punish you.”
“We have managed to be very stable, playing the game that we have to play. In the first half we were a bit stuck, but we found a way to score a goal, and in the second half we attacked better and were more fluent. But with 1-0, we knew that we had to suffer because a team has to score goals to beat any other opponent this season, so to keep the clean sheet is very important.”
Arteta went on to highlight the crucial role of the Arsenal supporters, stressing how the crowd actively plays the game alongside the team:
“There were a few moments when I described that, Riccy going on the floor and putting a tackle in, Jurrien the same, and the way Viktor was chasing every single ball. Some individual actions on the ball as well, I think we are getting better at. The crowd was playing the game with us, and it makes such a difference, so thanks to them.”
He also shared his thoughts on the visitors, Crystal Palace, noting how they made the first half challenging for Arsenal:
“Big credit to them, because when we tried to do something they adjusted to it, the way they are set up, they don’t jump to things, they don’t get attracted to things. The two outside players in the back line are really aggressive, so it’s really difficult to find those spaces, and then you know the moment they regain the ball, they have a focal point of Mateta, two runners, and you have to be very disciplined, because the moment you lose that, on top of the two wing-backs running, you can get very exposed. I said to the boys, we’re going to have a long match, we have to be really stable emotionally, very direct when we have the opportunity to attack them and take our chances, because there’s not going to be that many”.
