My Arsenal Blog

On whether Ceballos will remain part of his plans:
He needs to get back to fitness and fight for his place like any other team. After that we will make the selection that I think is fair with what I see on the pitch.

On Aubameyang reportedly agreeing a deal with Barcelona:
As far as I know, a week ago after a game at home we were discussing that he said he was so happy and he didn’t agree with the things that were written in the media and he has his future here. That’s what I understand at the moment.  .......Read more here.....

On what he’s learned about his players from the Chelsea game:
The type of players that I have at the moment, with the attitude that they showed, the ability to react in difficult moments and I think the joy was to watch, from my side, how much they want it and actually that they never gave up.  .......Read more here.....

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has challenged Dani Ceballos to regain full fitness and work hard to win a place in his team.

Ceballos joined the Gunners on a season-long loan from Real Madrid last summer, and so far he has racked up 17 games in the club shirt in all competitions, scoring once and assisting twice. He missed almost two months of action through a torn muscle bundle, and upon his return from injury, speculative reports appeared about him potentially wanting to cut the loan short in January. Apparently, he is very keen on securing enough game-time for Spain boss Luis Enrique to take him into account when contemplating the list of players he might want to take to the European Championship this year.  .......Read more here.....

On whether he has any complaints about the red card:
If I have?

On whether it was double jeopardy:
I don’t know. I watched it from different angles and from different angles it looked different. They made a decision and we have to accept it.  .......Read more here.....

While Arsenal didn’t quite manage to come away with all three points against Chelsea, there’s still a bizarre sense of renewed optimism within the Emirates in the wake of the 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge last night. They need to start turning these points into wins, but as Arteta has stated, there are reasons to be proud of this team as we look ahead to the future.  .......Read more here.....

On what he learned about his team from the previous Chelsea game:
It’s different from then to now. I loved the first 30 to 35 minutes and the way we went about it. How aggressive we were, how much we wanted to attack them and put them under pressure – it’s the kind of way that we wanted to play. After that, we had a little bit of a setback. They changed the system and we found it a little bit more difficult to deal with that. We started to defend deep without really conceding anything, and had some great opportunities on the break as well. I think physically for us in that moment it was harder for us to maintain the same amount of energy. Against Chelsea, that’s vital.  .......Read more here.....

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta knows and understands this game, and one of the biggest things to understand with a club like Arsenal is that you simply cannot afford to go on a bad run of form for too long – or it could spell trouble. In their upcoming clash against Chelsea tonight, there’s a very good chance that their top four hopes could be all but finished – and we aren’t even out of January yet.  .......Read more here.....

On whether he thinks we should have had a penalty:
I think it’s very clear.

On whether he’s spoken to the referee about it:
No.

On Gabriel Martinelli stepping up:
Absolutely. He’s an 18-year-old kid with all the enthusiasm but as well, he’s so brave to make decisions, to threaten the opponent every time. He’s all the time in the middle of the goal, waiting for an opportunity to come. The fact he hasn’t played 90 minutes for a while – since his injury – but is still in the way he went about every single action is impressive.  .......Read more here.....

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta spoke with the media in a game that felt very ‘lather, rinse, repeat’ as the Gunners drew 1-1 with Sheffield United. They had the lead for a long time before the Blades were able to bite back with an equaliser, and it was clear to see and hear the disappointment from Arteta as the attention now turns towards the Chelsea clash.

On how frustrating the result is:
I’m very disappointed today. I think the performance deserved three points and I think we lost two points. In the Premier League, if you don’t put the game to bed then in the last 10 or 15 minutes this type of team just need a long ball, a second ball, a set-piece, and you can give the points away. That’s it.  .......Read more here.....

On what the team will miss most about not having Auba involved:
Auba has been around, he was very sad after the game. He was disappointed that he left the team with 10 men. It’s an action that is completely accidental in my opinion. He’s been superb under me, he’s trained really well, he’s working so hard. He’s scoring goals and has probably been the most important player on the team. So to lose him, obviously, is really bad news for us.  .......Read more here.....