“Being There Is Not Enough” – Mikel Arteta Reveals Half-Time Team Talk Against Man City

By The Editor
on 9th October 2023

Mikel Arteta reveals his message to the team at half time…

Mikel Arteta reveals he challenged the players to go to another level in terms of their pressing at half-time during Sunday’s win against Manchester City, he told NBC Sports.

The team visibly came out looking more intent in their work in and out of possession and managed to pin the visitors back for long spells.

Arteta puts that down to our pressing off the ball which was more intense after the interval thanks to a rallying cry from the Spaniard.

The 41-year-old stated that while the structure was good, we were missing the part where we stuck our foot in and actually won the ball to stop the treble winners from having their own way.

Gabriel Martinelli’s introduction at half-time certainly helped us execute the manager’s wishes, with the 22-year-old one of the most devastating forwards when tasked with winning the ball back in the final third.

“We struggled in the first 35 minutes to occupy the right spaces,” Arteta said.

“We managed to change it – they (Man City) changed it twice. At half-time I expected them to change it again so we had two options to do it. We were really efficient.”

The changes Arteta is referring to is the different formations Man City use within a game which makes it really difficult to force them into areas that make them vulnerable – in and out of possession.

“It’s not just about the organisation, it’s the level of intensity and your duels – you actually have to win the ball.

“Being there is not enough against this team because they can play out and run in open spaces and the boys were excellent.”

Those changes the boss made midway through the second half were really telling and immediately increased our physicality levels on the pitch.

Kai Havertz, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Thomas Partey are all giants and are specialists in coming out on top in physical duels.

In the end, it was those ‘finishers’ that won us the game.