📣 Arteta on Saka injury, Gabriel robbery, Tierney v Tavares | OneFootball

Mikel Arteta faced the media on Wednesday ahead of Arsenal’s midweek trip to Old Trafford.

Here’s what he had to say.

On injury latest

“Granit [Xhaka] is still not ready, [Sead] Kolasinac is still not ready. We have a doubt with Bukayo [Saka] and another few knocks we got against Newcastle, so today’s the day to assess how everybody is.

“I am hopeful (on Saka) but we don’t know, obviously it’s a short turnaround and the player has to be comfortable playing with a small injury.

“Playing with an injury, he had to leave the pitch. He’s been preparing the last two days because he wants to play.

On Gabriel fighting off robbers

“It’s not a nice thing to go through when you have family and they are trying to come to your own house. Gabi showed a lot of character the way he reacted, credit to the boy.

“After that he was fine — obviously there were a few things he wanted to change in his life to prevent those things happening — and the club gave him all the support needed.”

On how to prepare to face Man Utd

“You know what to expect when you play in that stadium, in front of that crowd, against one of the most talented squads in the Premier League.

“It’s difficult tactically because you don’t really know how they are going to prepare the game, the options they have, the formations. So we focus more on ourselves and what we have to do.

“They had phases in the game against Chelsea, sometimes you want to do something against them and you can’t because of the quality they have.”

On Ralf Rangnick

“He has been one of the top coaches in the game, not only in coaching but he has made radical changes in the game and he is a really interesting person in the football world.

“I know people who have worked with him, who have followed him, and we have done our research obviously.”

On challenging for top four

“When you win at a big stadium, and the form we are in, it gives a lot of confidence. It’s an important game but it’s a long run (ahead).”

On Aubameyang’s goalscoring form

“He’s doing many other things. Obviously we need that contribution because his goals are critical for our success and that has to be his aim, to keep doing the things he’s doing and in the right moments, put the ball in the net.”

On not playing Kieran Tierney

“That’s the level we want to achieve, that in every position we have players who can perform at the highest level and compliment each other by giving you different qualities as well. Last year we had an issue when Kieran was out for a while, we had to invent in that position. That’s why we made the decision in the summer to fill the gaps.

“Kieran hasn’t played in a lot of games because he was injured, and when Nuno played he played well and I think he deserved the chance to continue playing.

“After what happened at Anfield and some individual errors we had, we have to be very careful with the messages we send to our players. I encourage my players to have courage, take risks, play on the front foot. If we do that, then for any reason something doesn’t go our way or there’s a mistake, that’s where you have to show trust to the players to build confidence and resilience.

“And with young players even more, otherwise they can get confused.”