Every word Mikel Arteta said on Brighton anger, Fabian Hurzeler blast and Arsenal title boost

Mikel Arteta faced the press after his Arsenal side clung on to secure a huge result at Brighton, while their rivals Manchester City were held to a draw at home by Nottingham Forest. Fabian Hurzeler said post-match that he would never be a coach who tries to win in that way and that there was only one team that tried to play football today.

He was asked about the approach, considering Arsenal played the most long balls, 60, of any Premier League game so far. There was also some insight into the preparations for the game too.

Bukayo Saka made his 300th appearance and got plenty of applause. While Manchester City’s draw being celebrated by fans was the indication to Arsenal manager he’d taken a big stride forward.

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Here is every word from the post-match press conference:

We knew how tough it was going to be. We're coming back from very difficult games with a lot of intensity, with players really going through the line in every game with difficulties, not able to train and to come here and get the result that we got. I think it's remarkable.

Did you hear the fans singing?

I believe so.

You must have heard that and also what they were singing at the final whistle. What did that mean?

From the first minute, I just mentioned it. The energy that they brought, the passion, the positivity to the team. It was amazing.

Many moments we thought that we were playing very close with them and that's very helpful.

Fabian was with us before, not very happy with the way your team played. He said that you make your own rules. He specifically mentioned on three occasions David Raya went down injured. What is your reaction to what he said and specifically, David, was he injured?

What a surprise.

Would you like to expand on that?

No. You just go back to the previous games and you'll find a lot of comments like this always.

I love my players. That's the highlight. I love my players, we love our players and I love the way we compete.

Do you feel like there's a lot of anger aimed at your players externally?

I think they love our players. I mean, every time they talk about our players, I think they are the most loved ones in the country.

Just talking about the atmosphere in the ground. I see a lot of boos towards your team throughout the game. When that's going on, do you and the players enjoy that side of it?

We need to. Obviously, when you are in the position that we are in, they want to take that away from you. That's normal, that's a sport.

We need to take that with normality and we need to confront it in the right way.

You mentioned about players not training and the time between games is obviously very, very short. Last week was obviously the first week off in a long time. Are there any specific players that haven't had a lot of time to train?

Obviously, Havertz is coming back and it seems that a lot of your players are very, very tired towards the end of games. Is it just the schedule?

It is the league. I mean, when you look at the amount of minutes that players have played in comparison to last season, they are already much higher than last season.

That's the schedule, that's the normality that we have now. In the competition that we are in, we have to accept it, but the level of energy and desire that they put in, it's phenomenal.

Did the fact that the players couldn't train affect the approach? It was 60 long balls, the most of any game that you've had this season in the Premier League. Was that attempt to try and get the ball further up the field in a way to rest almost between phases?

No, I think that was down to especially what happened in the game as well. The lack of composure that we have in certain moments. Probably, our heart rate is a little bit too high in certain moments because we are trying to recover as well.

Obviously, that's not the intention, but the players at the end have to make the decision. If they believe that, throughout certain moments, they have to do that, they have to do it.

So ideally, you'd want that number to be a lot lower?

Yes.

Do you care what other managers say of you?

Care? Yeah. Depends.

On the manager?

Yeah, and the comments. And the purpose of that.

I'd love to talk more about that more but Bukayo Saka, 300 appearances and a winning goal.

They're unbelievable. Unbelievable numbers at his age to produce the amount of games. To do it in the manner that he's done it and the stats that he's got related to those games.

It's just incredible. So, a big night for him.

Hurzeler said that only one team tried to play football…

Next question.

Sorry?

You have another question?

It’s about Hurzeler so you’re not going to answer it…

When did you find out the City result?

When I was walking to our supporters, because I saw a reaction and I said, what happened? But it was something a little bit strange. So, yeah, I didn't know.

So, obviously, you don't care about that during the game, do you?

During the game, we have enough one-hour play to be focused on something. Yeah, if he's at home or there's a reaction, then somebody can notice something, but I didn't.