The arsenal manager discussed the win, Reiss Nelson, Mesut Ozil, Lucas Torreira and more. Read on for a full transcript:
on an encouraging victory…
I am really happy with the performance. First of all with the attitude and the way we approached the game mentally. The senior players took the lead straight away and I could see that they came here to win the game, and afterwards with the young players and the way they are developing and the way they played again tonight.
on Mesut Ozil not being in the squad…
I am really happy with the performance of the players here, how difficult they are making things for the coaching staff to select the squad.
on what has changed with Ozil…
The team is evolving and you can see the level they are achieving, so this is where we are at at the moment. We want to evolve more, play better and compete better, so we need to keep maintaining that trend.
![[FILE] Liverpool’s Egyptian midfielder Mohamed Salah (L) runs with the ball as Arsenal’s Brazilian defender Gabriel closes in during the English Premier League football match between Arsenal and Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium in London. (Photo by Catherine Ivill / POOL / AFP)](https://www.afriupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/000_97B779-scaled-e1703231851386-120x86.jpg "Liverpool host Arsenal in battle for Premier League Christmas No. 1 1")
on whether he believes other players are better suited…
Well, we are picking the players that we believe are the best for each game and as you can see, we keep changing, so this is what we are trying to do.
on Reiss Nelson’s display…
He played really well, I think he put in a really good performance. He wasn’t in the squad for the last two Premier League games because of the competition we have up front so everyone needs to fight for their places.
on whether Nelson will go out on loan…
We don’t discuss things are happening behind closed doors, but he played really well tonight.
on whether the team is evolving away from Ozil…
You can see that the players that we are changing and using every week, that it is very difficult – not just for Mesut but the rest of the players – for some to make the squad. Every week, we try to pick the right players.
on whether Ozil will be involved again…
It is difficult for others as well who weren’t involved in the Premier League and they didn’t play tonight either. We have a squad of 26, 27 players at the moment and we cannot give all of them playing time.
on whether he can understand why people are confused by the situation…
Of course I understand, I respect your questions but I have to try to do my job as fair as possible and pick the players that, in my opinion, are in a better condition to play.
on whether Torreira was left out because he could leave…
I am not making decisions because players might leave or stay, it is just for the players we see every day who are in the best possible condition to compete and get us closer to winning football matches.
on whether Torreira could leave soon…
Again, I cannot discuss any internal things.
on possibly going to Liverpool twice in a week…
You can imagine, it is probably the toughest place to go in Europe or the world. But those are the fixtures, let’s go there first on Monday, prepare well and see how it goes.
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