Every word of Mikel’s pre-Palace press conference | Press conference | News

Mikel Arteta was back in front of the media for his first of two pre-Crystal Palace press conferences this week.

Our manager spoke to the press at Sobha Realty Training Centre on Tuesday afternoon, and here’s what he had to say on the following subjects.

on team news:
Not much!

on Declan Rice:
He’s fine, we’ll make the decision now whether he’s available or not.

on Oleksandr Zinchenko and Riccardo Calafiori:
No Alex and Richy will be out of the squad for tomorrow.

on if we will make wholesale changes tomorrow:
We’ll decide that in the morning in relation to how the squad is, obviously the relevance of the match and where we are in the quarter-finals, it becomes a very important match. We’ll decide the best team to win it.

on a big chance for silverware:
We’ve won three – two Charity Shields too. We want more and the big ones [too]that’s for sure.

on the January window:
I fully trust the squad and our players, and the amount of situations and things we generate in the match, how little we concede. I fully trust my players.

on what kind of game to expect against Crystal Palace:
Very tough – when you look at the last results and the approach that they have, the quality of the individuals that they have, how they are coached as well. It’s always really tough, it’s another layer of difficulty as well when you play a team twice in four days, so we have prepared for that.

on if we need to win or want to win the cup:
We want to win and do everything that we can to win it. It’s not about [whether we need or want to win]the pressure is coming in a big club because you want to do the best that you possibly can and that’s related at the end to major trophies, and this is what we want to do.

on how to ensure that we score in games that we dominate after the Everton draw:
The frustrating part is that watching it back all the incredible things the team does and still not get rewarded for the three points. Looking back at other games in the league and our margins were ten times bigger than many other teams that have won that day, but this is Football. At the end of the day what we have to do is put the ball in the back of the net and then we don’t have that issue. What the team is producing and the way the team dominates the game, there is very little to say.

on people saying there is an over reliance on set-piece goals:
That’s always the narrative. When you score five goals, then another five and another three, you’re not going to talk about it. When you concede, now you don’t have that many clean sheets. When you don’t score a goal you’re going to come back to that. That’s normal, that’s the narrative, but for us it doesn’t change. We want to improve regardless of if we score three or five. Even though we didn’t concede anything on Saturday, there are still things defensively I want to do better. It doesn’t change our work.

on the balance of tomorrow’s team selection:
We have managed the squad in the best possible way to make sure everybody is fit and available, feels part of it and is ready when the team needs them. If we have to make changes, I’m sure that the boys who come in will have that and others will have to play as well because of the numbers.

on how he feels about the narrative of the team with stats saying we’re scoring less than last season:
Very different to that obviously. The depth of the analysis, that’s what I’m interested in.

on if the players are prepared for Palace to sit back:
Well they are slightly different and I don’t think Fulham for example wanted to sit back. They never have that approach and have played against Spurs and Liverpool and haven’t done that. It’s what you’re able to do to teams sometimes that they have to do certain things in relation to the game and the game scenario. The scoreline obviously has a big input to that. We will face one game or another.

on the challenge of deciding a game as a player:
Well a magic moment is not only just to score a goal. A magic moment can be Gabriel last year against Manchester United when he plays the striker offside for millimetres. That’s a magic moment as well in my opinion. It doesn’t only have to be scoring a goal, but we have players that are capable of doing it. Doing it every three days, that’s when you become a world class player, a player that wins games with individual actions and we’re trying to develop our players to have more of that because that would be another source of winning games.

on how much of it is a mental thing:
A lot. Actually, making it happen and believing it can happen again, creating the fear in the opposition that a player or two can deliver that… a player can became, it’s easy to say predictable, I know what he’s going to do, but actually stopping what he’s going to do is something else.

on whether going through in the cup builds momentum:
I think so, I fully believe in that, the fact you are winning, you get into the next round of the competition, it builds, it creates something different around the team, that’s why these kind of games are really, really important.

on taking inspiration from Man City’s success in this competition:
Yes, because it keeps everyone on their toes, everybody is willing to play those games, those competitions and if you’re able to win it, then it gives momentum, belief and we are ready and the team is always engaged, every three days to try to achieve the bigger ones.

on the January transfer window:
It will depend on what player it is, the value of that player, if there is any other movements in the squad or not, so it’s very difficult to answer.

on if winning the EFL Cup can lead to more trophies:
I think it’s really helpful. Again, I think it brings belief, trust, positive energy; touching a cup, beating someone in the semi-final, beating someone in the final, it generates that energy and I think it creates that right path to go and do something else, especially because of the timing and when the competition is played in this country, it gets the momentum going.

on how Mikel will celebrate five years in charge of us:
I don’t drink wine! But yes it will be a special day. Obviously, five years in this job, especially the size of the club that we are is a big thing, so very grateful.

on whether he will celebrate the day:
I wouldn’t have a celebration but probably I will reflect on it, have some memories and look through some pictures and comments and a few moments that we have spent together. Recall it and value it because it’s quite a long time.

on reactions from the fans to the draw vs Everton:
We were here to win games and even though we did the majority of things to win it comfortably, the fact is that we didn’t.

on if there’s a reason Raheem Sterling didn’t come on against Everton:
No.

on if Ethan Nwaneri and Martin Odegaard can play together:
Depending on who they are surrounded by and depending on which position Ethan can play. He can play right attacking midfielder, he can play left attacking midfielder, he can play right winger, there is another position that I think he can develop into in a few years time, so there are options here.

on which position he thinks Nwaneri could develop into:
Nine.

on what qualities Ethan would bring to the number nine position:
When he’s got the goal in front of him, he just looks at the goal. He has a tremendous ability to put the ball into the back of the net.