Did Arsenal deserve a point?
I think Arsenal deserved 3 points without a doubt.
Roy Keane said he thought Arsenal were shocking and dreadful.
We have to respect every opinion. You asked me my opinion I think we totally deserved to win the match. You have to look at the chances we created, two goals disallowed and that we conceded one shot on target
What did you make of the VAR controversies in the match with the Ceballos goal and Fulham penalty?
That we have to trust them. That’s the only thing.
How bad is the Lacazette injury?
We don’t know yet. He felt his hamstring so I don’t know.
Did you pick Mat Ryan for his headers right at the end there?
It’s because he totally deserves to play. He trains like a beast, he has the right attitude and he needed a game.
But what a header!
Yep it was a good header.
January was the last time you got back-to-back wins in the league. How much of a worry is that for you?
That’s the reason we are where we are in the league because when you face the games like today and you produce what we produced you have to win. That’s what the top teams are doing consistently in the league. When you don’t do it then obviously the consequences are being in the league in the position we are.
In terms of the Champions League race do you still think Arsenal can come top four or did you think you needed the win today?
Absolutely we needed the win today. We need to win every single game to give ourselves the best possible chance. We know that it doesn’t depend on us but mathematically it’s still possible.
You made a lot of changes today what was the reason for that?
There is different reasons to that. One of them because some of the players haven’t recovered yet since Thursday night. They’ve played so many minutes and it was a big risk to play them. Some other because they deserve the opportunity.
But we cannot change 10 players all the time. We took some decisions like with Laca to play him again because he felt good and he still got injured. So It’s always a balance when you rest them why you rest them, and if you don’t why you don’t play them again.
There’s potential now for both Aubameyang and Lacazette to be missing on Friday. Could you end up relying on someone like Eddie Nketiah?
We will see, we will assess who is available and how we want to approach the game and we will make decisions based on that.
In terms of Eddie when we see things like today does that show he can still offer things for Arsenal?
Yeah he always offers his best. Today he scored a goal, he had another two important chances and he's always a threat in front of goal.
There have been some more clubs linked with a European superleague break away can we get your opinion on that?
I don’t know anything about it.
Laca’s injury looked like a hamstring which could rule him out for three or four weeks and with Auba out as well that could be crucial for the whole season couldn’t it?
We will have to see, till we have the scan probably on Tuesday, see the extent of the injury and the timeline of it. But I don’t know.
He looked very disappointed going off the pictures tell their own story about how bad he thinks it is.
Yes but I don’t know I cannot tell you if it’s gonna be a week two weeks, five weeks six weeks. He felt something in his hamstring but we don’t know the extent of it and we are disappointed because we know the moment that Laca was on.
Arsenal are believed to be one of the teams who have signed up for this are you saying you’re not aware of anything from the club?
No.
What are your thoughts on a breakaway superleague?
I don’t know once I know every detail and I have all the information then I can evaluate and give you my opinion.
With Eddie coming in at centre forward how important will be rhythm be for his game given the lack of game time he’s had?
Well obviously every player needs minutes and Eddie has been fighting to get more minutes than what he was getting this season. It’s good that when he has the chance to show his ability and his quality that he’s done it.
Joe Willock is playing very well for Newcastle. One of the things you said you wanted him to improve on was his defensive awareness. Do you feel he’s doing that and are there any plans for him next season?
Yeah, I'm really happy with Joe because he scored a massive goal for the club. So, when he produces big moments like that it’s very satisfying. Joe can do it he’s got the ability and the desire and now he's having more consistency in terms of minutes and performances and that’s great for his development. That’s why we all believed it was the right thing for him to go on loan.
