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Football London
Football London
Sport
Kaya Kaynak

Every word Mikel Arteta just said on Tierney's fitness, Ozil's transfer and Crystal Palace

How do you sum things up. Are you a bit disappointed? A bit frustrated?

I am disappointed because we wanted to win the game. But I think a draw is a fair result, because we lacked some freshness and some quality in the final third to win this match.

I want to ask you about a joint statement from the Premier League and the EFL that says if football sets the right example we can finish the season in May. Is there a danger that if football doesn’t do the right thing that we might not finish the season?

Well, I don’t know the answer to that question. What we can control and what we are really trying hard to do is to follow all the guidelines and the rules. But sometimes it becomes difficult because there are a lot of emotions involved in the game. And obviously it’s good not to be first bumping but there are 25 actions that we have to grab eachother in the box in every set piece.

So we are getting tested every three days we are trying to do the right things. Sometimes it makes sense to be all the time demanding but at the same time there are things that are pretty complicated to control.

Fenerbahce say Ozil is closer than ever to joining. Is he closer than ever to leaving Arsenal and are there any other clubs involved?

Well I don’t know how close he’s been before. There are some conversations going with Edu and the club at the moment, but nothing concrete yet.

You mentioned that Kieran Tierney will be going for an MRI. How long are you thinking he might be out for?

We don’t know. We’ll probably know more tomorrow after testing him and having the evolution of the injury and how long he’s gonna be out for. Certainly it was a big disappointment just on the day of the match to lose him. Hopefully he can be with us very quickly.

How much of a challenged is it to adapt the way you’re playing when Kieran has so quickly become so important?

Well, it is a challenge when you created a game plan for the day and just a few hours before the game he has to pull out. But that’s why we have other players to do it and they have to step in. Kieran’s progression in the last few months has been incredible and now it’s for another player to step in and do that he does.

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