Izuchukwu OkosiArsenal manager Mikel Arteta faced the media Friday afternoon ahead of Saturday’s tricky clash against Aston Villa at The Villa Park and he was asked questions about his one-match ban and other developments at the club.
The Spaniard recently marked his 200th game in charge of the Gunners with the suspension coming in the aftermath of his goal celebration with his players.
Arteta, who captained the north London side to an FA Cup triumph whilst as a player of the club under the legendary Arsene Wenger confirmed that there were no injuries from the narrow win over Luton Town.
“No fresh injuries from Luton,” Arteta revealed in his press conference following the injury to Takehiro Tomiyasu in the Champions League against RC Lens.
On the expected return date for the injured Ghana midifelder Thomas Partey who have missed close to a month of action, Arteta suggested that the game against Liverpool in the Premier League after this weekend, may come too soon for the former Atletico Madrid star who has missed several important matches for his team through injuries.
“We don’t know. He’s getting a very good evolution in the injury. Liverpool would be incredibly fast. We are quite short with five key players not being available.”
Arteta gives high plaudits to the Villa side coached by former Arsenal manager Unai Emery who took over the reins in the dugout after Arsene Wenger.
“Huge credit to them and Unai for the way they turned things around. It’s one of my favourite grounds, it’s going to be a big chance for us.”
The Birmingham-based side are currently third in the Premier League behind Arsenal and Liverpool thanks to their shocking 1-0 win over reining champions Manchester City on Wednesday night.
Then speaking on if he is being targeted by the Premier League for his ‘excessive’ goal celebrations, Arteta said:
“I don’t know how to stop it. It was a really emotional moment and you lose sense of where you are. If you look strictly at the rules we cannot do that. The ‘we’ is very important in that context.”
Speaking further on if he is allowed to celebrate his team’s goals, Arteta responded thus: “We are (allowed to celebrate goals but I think we have a boundary. Or maybe we need a very strong rope to keep us near the bench. When I say “we” I mean all of us (managers).”
Arteta insists that he will not stop being effervescent with his goal celebrations. “If I was given the opportunity no. I want to be there close with my players because we work so hard to be there. If I was given the chance I would be there jumping.”
The onetime Barcelona and PSG player further revealed that the club has passed on its evidence on the charges against him: “We have submitted our evidence. We’re just waiting to hear.”
Arteta concluded his presser on the indifferent performance of goalkeeper David Raya against Luton as some fans call for the reinstatement of Aaron Ramdsale as first choice goalkeeper.
“If you look at his form and what he has achieved since he’s been with us it’s impressive. I have three great goalkeepers and I’m really happy. I have great wingers. Some of them are on the bench but there’s no questions related to them.”
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.
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