Every word Mikel Arteta said on Man City, midfield selection, Gyokeres chances and Martinelli

Mikel Arteta faced the media following his side’s draw with Manchester City. It required a very late equaliser in the 93rd minute from Gabriel Martinelli to spare the Gunners from defeat against their title rivals.

The result moves them five points behind Liverpool; however, their start to the campaign has been by far the trickiest of their rivals. Yet again however it was the midfield three that gained attention and as a result it was put to Arteta why he chose the triumvirate.

He was bullish in his response. Here is every word Mikel Arteta said to the press during the conference:

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Overall assessment?

I'm extremely proud of the players and the team. That's the overall feeling and I'm very disappointed with the results.

When you were watching on and living the experience, did it feel a little bit like last season's game at the Etihad but with the roles reversed? There was one team that had come to really attack and push on, and maybe City were just playing to hold on?

No, because that game we played, I think, was 54 minutes with 10 men, so that's a different story. The pride that I feel is to do and to play and to dominate a game that we did against this team but with 11 players.

You made two changes at half-time, was there an admission there that maybe the team selection in the first instance wasn't quite right?

Not too easy to say that. I think it's very clear what we wanted to do. Very well we started the game, I think we completely dominated. I think after they scored in the goal without doing absolutely nothing before that, we were a bit shaky for five or seven minutes and after that we still got the grip of the game again and started to dominate it. In the second half it was a continuation of that with one different player and then with two or three different players.

Is it unfair to characterise it as a safety-first line-up? Do you think there was enough attacking talent considering the attacking talent that you possess in them?

I leave that to you, but for me it's a lot of attacking players in that team, yes.

Were you surprised with how withdrawn Pep went? Because you've never really seen that from him before.

I think everybody tries to do their best to get the result that they want, so it's fine.

Can I just ask about the substitutions, was Noni Madueke just tactical or was he carrying anything else?

No, I think he had an issue very early in the match and he wasn't well enough to continue.

And when Eze came on and played in that more of a central role rather than wide, is that something that you see as being an interesting possibility for using him?

Yes, that's why he played today in that position.

With Donnarumma being at PSG in the Champions League last season, he caused you guys a host of problems, today he played well again I thought. In terms of his play, what did you make of him, especially on set-pieces, the way he punches the ball?

I saw Dominic in the box and every ball that he's in and around the 6-0 box. His timing, the way he executes the action is super efficient, it's very difficult and today again he made some very important contributions not to lose again.

And with Martinelli, were you tempted to possibly bring him on earlier in the game?

Yes, but we had very good momentum as well and we needed to time that. He's in a really good moment again after the game he had in Bilbao, in that period of time he probably deserved more but his energy again, his attitude was really good and that's why he made the impact that he made again for the team.

Just on Gabriel Martinelli again, what did you say about him, two decisive impacts both off the bench, a player could go the other way when they get dropped after a difficult…

We want consistency on that, on every player that is not starting the game to be able to do that because you see how long the match is and the level that it requires to beat them and I'm very happy with him.

Could you just talk us through your thinking behind that midfield three and what you thought they could do to start the match?

No, we don't have time for that, there's a lot of things to do that.

But just a very basic analysis of what you thought that midfield three could do instead of maybe with...

Because I say it was the best one to start the game. Nobody asked me about the midfield three in Bilbao, nobody.

Well I guess it's a different game.

That's right, but it's the same midfield.

So why did you keep it?

Because I believe it was the best thing for the team.

Just on Gyokeres, he didn't have any shots or any chances really, are you concerned about the lack of service?

Well there were a lot of very good balls in the box, especially I remember three of them that he was very, very close to doing it against City. To have very big open chances is extremely difficult, but he's certainly trying his best and trying to do that, and we have to provide more for him, that's it.

Do you think you need to try and do something a bit different to create chances for him?

For him?

Yeah, than what you're doing at the moment.

Well there were a lot of situations that the chances were there and then especially the final pass was missing today. In many moments I was very, very, very open.

Eze it came on at half-time and obviously it made a real difference with the pass from Martinelli, that central role for him, is that something that you see in his future as being the primary or is it a case of the versatility is going to benefit you all over the field?

Yeah, he does and today he played a little bit more shifted to the right and there was a reason for that. When he plays shifty from the left, whether he's an attacker in midfielder or a winger coming to that space as well, he's someone that is very, very efficient and very creative. We know that, that's why we brought him. So we're using him in different spaces.

You obviously have more options on the bench compared to last season, for example. How much is important for you to understand which one is the right one for the moment you are in?

Well there's a lot of factors obviously. The first one is their performance level at the emotional state that they are in, that's one. And after that is what we believe is the best thing in relation to the opponent and the type of game that we predict. And after that there is also chemistry and relationships that make each other better and we're going to need to understand it.