Arteta responds to whether he tried to retain Xhaka!

Squawka statistics show that Rice created 23 major opportunities in all competitions in 2025, more than any other Premier League player.

It can be seen that Rice is comprehensive. Many people think of Rice as a defensive midfielder, but his position is no longer a defensive midfielder, but an all-around midfielder, integrating offense and defense! Moreover, Arteta also developed Rice's free kicks. It can also be seen from the picture that many opportunities are created through corner kicks and free kicks.

Most of Rice's passes are not spiritual or highly entertaining, but they are very stable and can be passed to the right position at the right time. In the last Champions League game, he assisted Merino with a very good pass. It was in the gray area between the goalkeeper and the defender, making it difficult for the opponent to deal with it.

Absolutely top midfielder, I think he is currently the number one midfielder in the Premier League. It was a great blessing that Manchester City did not grab Rice that year, otherwise Arsenal might have been suppressed for another 10 years...

Arsenal players were nominated as candidates for the FIFA 2025 Best Team of the Year.

They are: Raya, Gabriel, Saliba, Rice, and Zekelesh.

It is difficult for Zhekai to be selected in the end. After all, there are Kane and others in his position. The competition is too fierce, and it is also difficult for wingers. Saka was not even selected.

In the midfield, I personally think Rice can be selected. Raya, Gabe and Saliba also have this ability, but the problem is that Arsenal will not have a championship in 2025, and in the end it is impossible for many gunners to occupy seats.

If I want to win this kind of personal honor, I want to win the championship next year!

Official: Merino was selected to the best team of the Champions League this week.

Well deserved it. Not only did he score twice, but he also played an important role throughout the game. Center Mei is top-notch! Just make a guest appearance as a midfielder, and change your main responsibilities...

Rice, Saka, and Eze were selected for the new England national team.

Skelly and Ben White were eliminated.

There is no doubt about the three people selected, but there is a problem only if they are not selected. As for Skelly, Tuchel actually said it last time that he would refer to the player's playing time. Therefore, if Skelly wants to play in next year's World Cup, he must play more games at Arsenal, but this season it will be difficult. Calafioli performed very well, and now that Cappier is back, his playing time is definitely limited.

It’s not that simple to get to the midfield. Who can he replace in the midfield? It’s difficult to impress Tuchel just by playing in cup matches.

The same goes for White, who has played too few games.

There is hope after Maduekai returns. Nwaneri and Daoman can also challenge in the future, but this is a long story...

In the friendly match, I hope Tuchel will take his time.

Official: Arsenal loanee Kakuri was named Morecambe's best player in October.

Congratulations Kakuri! But to be honest, Morecambe is only playing in the semi-professional league, and his level is there. Kakuri should try to train with a Championship or League One team as soon as possible.

Speaking of Morecambe, there is another acquaintance in this team, and that is Azez from the Arsenal youth training. Arsenal fans should still have an impression. He was also one of the earliest youth training players to make his debut under Arteta. Unfortunately, his later development was not satisfactory. Azez was actually nominated as the team's best candidate for October.

Come on everyone!

Arteta attended the pre-match press conference. We will only look at a few key contents.

As usual, let’s start with the injury situation, shall we?

No, there is no new news. As before, no one will return from injury.

Yesterday we saw that Jesus has resumed training. You said that no one can return tomorrow. So how long will it take for Jesus to return?

I don’t know, the focus now is on moving forward every day. Jesus has been training alone before, but now that he can participate in some team training, we will see how he responds. But Jesus has a lot of energy and I love everyone's reaction to seeing him come back and it's great to have him back.

Do you still hope to welcome back Odegaard, Havertz, Madueke, Dzekereich and Martinelli after the international break?

Some people can come back, but I don’t know if all of them can come back. There's still a lot that needs to happen in the next two weeks and everything has to be perfect, but I think a lot of them will be very close to being in a great situation.

You obviously have a good relationship with Xhaka, so when he leaves in 2023, are you very reluctant to part with him? Did you try to convince him to stay?

I've done it once, and we renewed Xhaka's contract once, but when he comes to us and explains the reason (for leaving the team), you have to understand this person and you have to be grateful. It was a unique opportunity for Xhaka to go back to his country, his family and things he wanted to experience, and I believe it was the right moment.

Xhaka was honest and direct, as he always is, and we will find a good solution for everyone.

Manchester City is going to play Liverpool, where will you watch it? Do you have a preference for who wins?

I only care about tomorrow's game and how critical and hard this game is. This is the next step we have to take.

Many people believe that there is only one team that can prevent Arsenal from winning the Premier League championship this season, and that is Arsenal themselves. Do you agree?

I don't agree, sorry, because I think any team has the ability to do this, and I'm sure they themselves believe they can do it. We know our strengths and we know where we need to improve and we just focus on that.

The above is the press conference. It’s quite long, I only finished part of it, and I couldn’t flip through the rest due to some time reasons..

Jesus’s words, I believe some gun fans have already seen the news. He has resumed team training, and Arteta also confirmed this. In this case, it stands to reason that all that is left is to regain the rhythm and physical fitness of the game, and then the reserve team will play 1-2 games, and then they will have the conditions to come back. Then I personally predict that if everything goes well, I should be able to come back before mid-December.

The conditions of several other players remain unchanged and they are expected to return after the international match, so that Arsenal will soon be complete! It's not even complete yet!

We will talk about Xhaka’s interview below. He spoke highly of Arteta. In fact, Xhaka was also asked a lot about Xhaka at the press conference. Of course, his evaluation is also very high. I think the two of them have indeed achieved mutual success: without Xhaka, Xhaka may not have survived the first few years of taking office; without Xhaka, Xhaka left with humiliation...

But here I just want to talk about Xhaka’s transfer. Did Arteta retain him? Judging from Tazi's remarks, he actually did not retain him. Of course, not retaining him does not mean that he wants to give up. It may be true that as he said, Xhaka wanted to leave at the time... But in fact, Xhaka later said in an interview that it was he who did not get the contract extension, and it was not his wife who wanted to leave... I can't explain this kind of thing.

Fortunately, both parties have developed very well after the separation, so it’s a win-win situation!

In the battle between Manchester City and Liverpool, of course a draw is the best, but the key is for Arsenal to win! It’s only 10 rounds now, it’s too early to talk about anything!

Xhaka recently accepted an exclusive interview with TA. He talked about his years at Arsenal.

Xhaka said: "Everyone knows that Arsenal is in my heart. It is special to be able to play for this club for 7 years, so Saturday's game is also special because I am now a player on the other side and it is the first time against Arsenal. Let's see what happens.

The confrontation with the Gunners fans in 2019 This incident, after this misunderstanding... I call it a misunderstanding between myself and the gun fans, actually it is more serious than I said, I don't need to lie, everyone knows the story

I still don't know what happened that day and why it happened. I was prepared for everything, but I was not prepared to face 60,000. It was the worst day of my life, but it was also the best day of my life. I saw a lot of things that were unreal, even from friends and people around me, and I learned a lot from that.

And then when Arteta came, he followed me. It was a very honest conversation, my bags were packed and I was ready to leave, I had offers from other clubs but Arteta convinced me and he wanted to show me that this was the best place for me and from that day on I felt like every word he said came true. In 2019, Arteta completely changed me, as a person, both on and off the field.

Then we missed the championship in the 22-23 season, but every year, Arteta is trying new things, and every year he brings something, and if you look at Arsenal's first 10 games this season, they look. It's very consistent, with and without the ball, and I'm not surprised at all because I know how they work.

When I signed for Arsenal in 2016, I was very young, but I actually had the opportunity to join Arsenal in 2015. But I told him at the time that I wasn't ready.

I was very honest with myself, I didn't need criticism from others, I would criticize myself, and I was very harsh. I wasn't ready to go to Arsenal in 2015. I felt like I still needed one year.

I was very happy to have the opportunity to win a championship with this club. There were ups and downs, and the first few years there were not easy. Then I went through other coaches. After 22 years, Wenger left and Emery came to the Gunners with a new football philosophy. He also did a great job and brought Arsenal to the Europa League final."

The interview is more than that, I extracted most of it.

Xhaka is a person who makes gun fans have very complicated feelings, but I think most gun fans still have positive comments about him. He is a very good player, a very professional player, both moral and artistic, and a pure man.

Xhaka's character is suitable for being the cornerstone of a team. He is a natural captain. Many people don't understand why Manchester United has bought so many stars but still has poor results. In fact, this has something to do with the team's character. Xhaka is the player who can bring character to your team. During Arsenal's low period, his fighting spirit and professionalism , Work attitude can influence many people, protect many people, and drive many people. Therefore, even in the most difficult times, the character of the Arsenal team is unbiased. This is one of the foundations for its subsequent rise. If there was a fundamental problem with the entire team at that time, Arteta might not be able to survive and would be dismissed by now... No matter how he uses his methods, there is nothing he can do if the players don't listen.

I don’t want to talk about the confrontation anymore. I think there are three things that best reflect Xhaka’s maturity and growth. One is that he said that the day he fell out with the fans was also the best day of his life, because on that day he saw many people and things clearly. He had an epiphany. A person who has not experienced troughs cannot clearly see the people and things around him.

The second is that he spoke highly of Emery. In fact, Emery bears some responsibility for this matter, but Xhaka praised Emery. This is the magnanimity of a person..

The third one is that Wenger contacted him in 2015, but Xhaka refused to join. The reason was not salary and other issues, but because he felt that he was not ready. This is the so-called self-awareness of people. Of course, it is a compliment...

Finally, don’t forget to praise Arteta. Xhaka said that Arteta’s words will all come true in the future. This is his level. They all say that Arteta can make PPT. He has really made Arsenal a favorite in the Premier League and Champions League. He is not fooling!

I won’t say anything else. I appreciate Xhaka and wish Xhaka well, but don’t get ahead of him in this game.