Here is every word Mikel Arteta said during his post-match press conference after Arsenal beat West Ham United in the Premier League
Mikel Arteta spoke to the press after his Arsenal side beat West Ham United in the most controversial circumstances, following a late Leandro Trossard goal and an even later Hammers equaliser ruled out by VAR.
The Gunners boss had to make some big calls, which he arguably got wrong and remedied later. Declan Rice’s move to right-back the key incident that saw Martin Zubimendi brought on and then later taken off.
The big boost to the Premier League title hopes is obvious and was etched all over Arteta’s face. But there was still concern about Ben White’s injury, which could be a season-ender and threaten his World Cup prospects.
Here is every word Mikel Arteta said during the press conference:
A huge win, dramatic moment in the title race and a way for you to get it as well. You seemed pretty certain in the moment that late West Ham goal went in that it was a foul, but were you nervous at all?
Well, what a moment, what an afternoon, what a week it’s been for us. So full of emotions, I cannot praise enough the attitude, the desire, the courage and the quality of the team shown throughout this week because it was so much at stake and today we knew against a team that is fighting for their life, a club with an incredible history, how tough it was going to be.
I think we started the game so well. We had three big chances to go in front, but we didn’t manage to do that, so we have to keep our heads cool. Then we have Ben White’s injury, we have to make an adjustment there.
After the halftime, we have to make another one with Richy’s injury. And after that, I said to the boys, we’re really going to go for it. So get ready, because if the game is not panning out in the manner that we [want], we’re going to have to change it.
And the finisher, after the difference, Martin is coming in, he had an incredible impact in the game, an action that he’s now in a top position to score the goal. And after that there are two moments. One is that it’s David’s save, one against one, which is the story of the season again. And the other one, it’s in the most chaotic circumstances when two teams are playing for their lives.
A call from the refs that I think is very brave, but very consistent with what they’ve been talking about all season. So when I have to be critical, I have been.
And today I have to praise them, at least for giving the option to a referee to decide. Away from the lights and the chaos, to give clarity to him to make the right call. And when you look at the action in that way, I think it is an obvious error.
And it is a free kick and the goal has to be disallowed. So congratulations because they made a big call in very, very difficult circumstances.
I think it’s been described on TV as probably the biggest VAR decision in Premier League history. Which is a fair shout. But also, there’s no doubt in your mind that it’s about time. And then I guess a lot of people would be thinking, why does it take so long? That kind of adds to the… Do you understand that? And then also, did it add to your tension and nervousness around it?
Probably today I have realised how difficult and how big is the referee’s job. Because you’re talking about a moment that can decide the history, the course, of two massive clubs that they are fighting with their lives to achieve their objectives. And the pressure is huge.
Just quickly about Ben White, you looked into quite a lot of discomfort. I’m wondering if you could update us how he is handling it?
We don’t know, but he doesn’t look good at all. So he needs some further testing tomorrow.
Can I also just ask you more generally, apart from the game itself, it felt like such a big hurdle to get over this one at the end of this week, knowing exactly what’s in front of you now. How do you feel? How are they addressing your feelings?
Amazing. I feel so happy, so proud. Relieved as well, because we knew the difficulty of the game. But we’ve done it. It’s been a phenomenal week in every sense.
What the team has done, the way we’ve played, the way we have approached games. Then what our supporters have done for us this season. All week and today as well is phenomenal.
I think it changes the energy of the team. We have to leave the pressure now and just think about Burnley because that’s the only important thing.
Mikel, it turns out you had to make the change to bring Cristhian on at half-time. Did you feel like moving Declan to right-back maybe didn’t work as well as you expected, as well as it worked at Brighton?
There are two actions defensively that we suffered a little bit. I don’t think it’s because of his position, but we had to. But as well with the game that I expected, bringing Mosquera on was going to lift something that we really believed was going to give us the fluidity and the chance to hurt them. But sometimes you have to make another change. The one on Zubi was tough, but I really felt that we had to put two attacking midfielders in that moment to generate all the kind of issues and threats and thank God it worked out.
Often you think about games where you might score a load of goals and build momentum from that, but can games like this that end in such a way give you such an emotional feeling that it should be more beneficial than those big wins?
Especially when there are only two games to go after that. We have created some big chances and we didn’t score and the team had to stay cool. And I knew that they were going to have moments as well because they don’t need much to create issues around the box with the players that they have and the set-up that they have. So, yeah, we navigated through that and I think we deserved to win the game.
A couple of those early chances fell to Leandro Trossard and he hit the post twice. And then he had to wait so late to get that winner in his first goal in 2026, despite a good run of form recently. What are your thoughts on that?
Well, there is a player that makes a difference for us. As ever, it is impossible to maintain the level, especially with what we demand of the players. I think recently it has been really, really good. I think the game that has been played this week has been phenomenal and he has made a difference.
On David Raya’s save?
When you talk about magic moments, this is certainly one of the most needed moments as well to pull off with that save, it was incredible.
Biggest of the season for you?
I don’t know, he has made a few of them to be fair. So, yeah, that tells you how good it has been.
