My Arsenal Blog

It’s been a tricky few months for all of us who have had to deal with the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, with the Coronavirus sweeping through the world at a frightening pace. While many nations are slowly but surely starting to get a grip on proceedings, there’s definitely a sense that things will never be the same – and that’s certainly the case in the world of football.

Alas, we still need to escape reality every so often, which is why it was so interesting to hear Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta speak openly with Gunners legend Ian Wright about a variety of topics recently.  .......Read more here.....

On the evening on March 12th, Arsenal confirmed that manager Mikel Arteta had received a positive COVID-19 result.

The Gunners played a two-leg tie against Olympiacos in the Europa League round of 32 earlier, and despite a 0-1 win in Greece, they were knocked out after losing the second leg at the Emirates. The Coronavirus outbreak was at its early stages at the time, but it was soon reported that Olympiacos owner, Evangelos Marinakis, who also owns Nottingham Forest, had tested positive to the disease. Naturally, it meant that the whole Arsenal squad were potentially exposed, but it was Arteta who caught the virus first.  .......Read more here.....

Following the news that Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has tested positive for COVID-19, the Premier League is holding an emergency meeting this morning in order to discuss what is going to happen to the remainder of the fixtures this season.

Chelsea star Callum Hudson-Odoi has also tested positive for the coronavirus, and as we look ahead to the immediate future, it seems as if this ripple effect is going to continue. The logical next step seems to be suspending the league for at least a few weeks, if not a month, before analysing what to do from that point on.  .......Read more here.....

On whether we can beat City:
We’re going to go there trying to beat them, for sure. That’s going to be the game plan. We’ll put all the things we can on the pitch to make it difficult for them to create the scenarios during the game, and let’s see if we turn up on the day at our best and we can perform and win the game.

On qualifying for the Champions League:
I don’t know. It’s still a long way to go, we want to go game by game. Three weeks ago it was impossible, now it looks a little bit more possible, but still [it depends on] the results and our performances.  .......Read more here.....

While many fans are excited that Arsenal could actually have a chance against Manchester City after seeing their performance against Manchester United this past weekend, it’s worth being a little bit cautious. This is still one of the best teams in world football, as proven by the fact that they’re the favourites to lift the European Cup this season.

Prior to the Gunners going head to head with City, manager Mikel Arteta spoke about the match and what he’s expecting to see.  .......Read more here.....

Arsenal’s results have started gradually improving since Mikel Arteta took over from Unai Emery in December. Much more seems to be in place than before. There are clear ideas being implemented on the pitch, with every player working as hard as he can to fulfill the task given to him. However, it is the job of every manager to take constant looks at the squad at his disposal and ponder possible improvements; what needs to be strengthened, who are the players potentially not up to the standards required, would there be enough depth without them, and who could possibly take their places.  .......Read more here.....

On Sokratis at right back:
He moans a little bit because it is not his position! But for certain games, he is very helpful and he always has the right attitude and he has the qualities to play there in essential moments when we need him.

On giving Sokratis a lot of instructions from the side:
Yes, sometimes you need to interpret that when we have the ball it is a little bit different for him to use the spaces like he should do in relation to what the opponents are doing, but in general I think he is doing really well.  .......Read more here.....

Arsenal are the first team to progress into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup after a comfortable 2-0 win over Portsmouth last night. Goals from Sokratis and Nketiah ensured that the Gunners were able to bounce back from their disappointing Europa League exit, and after the game, manager Mikel Arteta spoke to the media about the importance of the win.

On the performance:
To come here, to this stadium, with seven under-23 players, and to dominate completely is a little bit unrealistic but we went through that moment [at the start] and after that we started to take the ball and play in the opposition half and dominate the situation much better. We scored the goals and should have scored more.  .......Read more here.....

On Bukayo Saka and if he thinks he might get an England call-up:
I don’t know. He deserves a lot of credit for the way he is playing, because he is playing with a lot of courage as well. You could see the other night that in difficult moments he wanted to make an impact and he wanted to make risky decisions to try to generate goals. And that’s been him. He’s been very consistent with his performance, which at that age normally is not a common thing, but yes, I’m really pleased with him.  .......Read more here.....

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta needed to get his side over the disappointment of the loss to Olympiakos this past weekend and re-focus their attention on the upcoming clash against Portsmouth in the FA Cup. In doing so, he spoke with the media about what fans should expect.

On the reaction of the players:
Well we trained today. We are all very down, frustrated, disappointed, but my message to them was that I am right behind them. I thanked them for the effort they put into the game, for the attitude and the personality they played with and the way they reacted after we conceded the goal. We tried, tried and tried again and completely deserved to win the game but there were aspects of the game that we have to dominate better if we want to keep competing at that level.  .......Read more here.....