Mikel Arteta Previews Arsenal's Clash with Brighton: Aiming for Eight Wins
Mikel Arteta walked into the press room before Arsenal’s trip to Brighton knowing the numbers as well as anyone. Seven wins from seven in all competitions. A chance to make it eight – something the club hasn’t done at the start of a season since 1903.
He didn’t bite on the history talk. He rarely does.
“We've got a really tough opponent tomorrow,” he said. “We’re going to have to earn the right to win the game.”
Injury boosts and a near-full squad
The first question was the one Arsenal fans always lean in for: team news.
“All good,” Arteta replied. Ben White is fine. So are Jurrien Timber, Cristhian Mosquera and Piero Hincapie, with one more training session to clear before Brighton. “They are willing to be part of it,” he added. The mood around the squad is positive, the manager clearly confident he will travel with options everywhere.
This will be Arsenal’s fourth straight away game. Arteta framed it as a test his players are embracing, not enduring.
“The team has responded so well,” he said. “Playing with such dominance, it doesn't really matter if we play at home or away; we want to be the same team. We want to cause the same kind of problems to the opposition.”
Three away wins down. Brighton to come.
Referees, Sunderland fallout and the “Sir Alex” comparison
The Sunderland controversy still lingers in the background. Conversations with Pro Ref have taken place, but Arteta shut the door on the detail.
“This is a conversation that will remain private as usual,” he said. “They have to keep that one.”
He was then presented with Jamie Carragher’s comparison to Sir Alex Ferguson – the idea that Arteta now holds the kind of influence that can shape refereeing narratives.
He rejected it.
“No,” he said. “I’m here to try to give my opinion, to defend my club, to give the very best to our players. I will make mistakes sometimes, but I will try to be as fair as possible.”
For him, the broader debate around officiating belongs in rooms like this one – open, challenging, but aimed at progress.
“We discuss many topics in this room, and they're important,” he said. “It's everybody's duty to try to improve the game, and that's what we're here for.”
Manchester United have had an apology. Would he want one?
“It's not about the apology,” he replied. “It's just agreeing that the decision should have been different or not… and try to improve and move forward together.”
Respect for Brighton and a call from Fabian
Brighton, he insists, deserve admiration, not animosity. Even after Fabian’s pointed comments about Arsenal’s style and time-wasting following their meeting in March.
Arteta revealed the Brighton man had reached out.
“I have huge respect for Fabian, what he's done and what Brighton has done as a club. It's just remarkable,” he said. “Tomorrow is going to be a beautiful game to watch, I'm sure.”
Contract calm and a longer international break
The questions then turned to his own future. The club want him to sign a new deal. He wants to sign. The fans want it done. Will it happen over the upcoming extended international break?
“I think we are all very much aligned,” he said. “Whenever the time is right, we'll get that done. There is nothing to be concerned about.”
Two years ago, his last extension landed in a similar window. He wouldn’t be drawn on timing.
“I don't know if the time will be the same or different,” he said. “We both have the same ambition and the same will. So whenever we have time, we'll get that resourced.”
The new, longer international break itself is still an unknown in his eyes.
“Let's see, it's something that we'll have to experience,” he said. The key, for him, will be communication with national teams – understanding player workloads, expectations, and finding a way to “work together”.
On whether a more condensed club schedule before a longer break might help teams build rhythm, he again deferred judgment.
“Let's see how it pans out,” he said. “Some [national teams] play very locally in Europe, some others have travelled around the world… We have to wait and see how this develops.”
Talk of another “Invincibles” season was swiftly shut down.
“We just have enough on the plate today to prepare the game against a really good Brighton,” he said. “We know how tough that's going to be and then the right to win it, that's it.”
Leadership, youth and the Gabriel effect
Arteta’s eyes lit up when the subject moved to leadership and youth, particularly a small moment in the cup that said a lot about his dressing room.
After a mistake from 16-year-old Marli Salmon, Gabriel went straight over to him, offering instant support. No coaching manual can script that.
“You cannot cause that. You have it, or you don't,” Arteta said. “It's just a very emotional reaction when you're in the middle of the game, and I absolutely loved it.”
The impact on a teenager’s confidence? Massive.
“The confidence that it gives to a 16-year-old to go again and deliver in the next action, it's huge,” he said. “It's good to see that bond, that connection within the team to try to help each other.”
He sees that same bond at centre-back, where new signing Ezri Konsa has slotted in next to Gabriel.
“When you have it daily, you just realise the magnitude of the player that we signed,” Arteta said. “Not only the player, but the person.”
He described the way Konsa and Gabriel interact around the training ground, how natural the partnership already looks.
“It seems like they've been here for a long, long, long time together,” he said. “That's a partnership that, in my opinion, is extremely important on the field.”
David Raya’s rise and “one of the best”
From non-league to the Premier League and now, in Arteta’s eyes, right at the top of the goalkeeping tree. David Raya’s journey is a story he wants every young player to study.
“That's a great story,” he said. “For any kid as well to look at trajectories and pathways and how you can reach the highest level in football.”
For Arteta, Raya’s mentality has driven that rise.
“He has overcome a lot of difficulties and a lot of challenges to reach this point,” he said. “When he reached this point, it wasn't easy at the beginning. He really has to dig in and improve himself.”
He credited goalkeeper coach Iñaki and the rest of the staff and squad, but did not shy away from where Raya stands now.
“He has the right to be one of the best now,” Arteta said.
Asked if Raya might be his best signing, he refused to rank him.
“I don't know, he's been a tremendous signing. There's no question about that,” he said. “Whether he's the best or not, it's just an opinion… We are so happy to have him. I think he has elevated the team, the club to a different level and now we need to maintain that level.”
Viktor’s search for rhythm
Viktor, facing one of his former clubs this weekend, has not yet hit full stride in the Premier League. Arteta, though, does not see a player short on belief.
“No,” he said. “Especially in the Premier League, he hasn't played that many minutes. But last week he played in Napoli, and he had a good game. I think that's about moments as well.”
He insists the club must back him through those moments.
“We need to give him all the support and confidence that he needs to deliver,” Arteta said. “We know the player that we have, the capacity that he has to score goals and what he can give to the team.”
The adaptation process is ongoing – for Viktor and everyone else.
“The team is doing certain different things this season as well,” he said. “It's a bit of both… That's a constant evolution, player and team.”
Graham Potter has suggested a change of environment with Sweden could help spark Viktor’s season, and Arteta has seen that before.
“Especially for a striker, you know what they need – minutes and goals,” he said. “We have a game tomorrow and hopefully he can deliver that.”
Bruno’s versatility and Eze on the left
On Bruno Guimaraes, Arteta spoke like a coach who sees tactical flexibility, not positional labels.
“He can play on the left, on the right, in the middle, he can rotate from there,” he said. “He's such a dynamic, versatile player that he can deliver great moments in any position.”
His role will depend on what Arsenal need on the day, the blend with other midfielders, and the opponent’s setup.
Out wide, Eze has taken all his minutes this season on the left, stepping into the space once held by Martinelli and Trossard.
“He's always played there,” Arteta said. “His biggest moments in his career and the highlights of his career have come [there]. It's a place that he feels very, very comfortable.”
Eze shares that flank with Tzolis. How does Arteta decide between them?
“Form, the opponent, the relationship that we have within that unit,” he said. “There are a lot of factors.”
Max Dowman: knocking on the door the right way
Max Dowman’s performance at Ipswich Town – two goals and a statement display – has not gone unnoticed. Arteta has been effusive in his praise this week, and the press conference was no different.
Asked if Dowman is metaphorically banging on his door for more minutes, Arteta smiled at the idea.
“That's the best way to knock on the door: to do it on the pitch, not in the office,” he said. “When a player delivers constantly on the pitch every single day in training, that's the best signal for the manager. That's the best signal for his teammates as well. They will demand that player playing.”
He has seen Dowman grow not just as a footballer, but as a person.
“When you see how those players behave daily, the level of attention they put to any detail, the way they look after themselves, the standard that they set… if you become part of that environment, that's only going to raise your level,” Arteta said.
For him, that environment becoming “normality” is the point when a young player is ready to jump again. “That's where Max is at the moment,” he added.
Building the pathway and fighting to keep talent
Arsenal’s youth strategy is clearly defined. Per Mertesacker has moved on, Pascal has come in, and signings like Victor in January and Andria Bartishvili underline a push to secure elite talent early.
“Well, it's together as a club,” Arteta said. “We know that if we want to constantly maintain this level and have the pathway already in-house… they need to be one of the best in the world at recruiting.”
That means in England and abroad.
“Recruiting in the country, recruiting abroad, the best talent that we possibly can to give us the best chance to sustain that level,” he said.
The battle to keep that talent is fierce. Names like Chido, Ayden and Nduka have moved on in recent years, while others – Max, Marli – have stayed and signed.
“That is challenging because there are a lot of parties there,” Arteta admitted. “Sometimes not only what we want to do is what the player or the agent or the family wants to do at times as well. And that's not easy.”
The aim, though, is clear: “We're going to try, for sure, to keep the best talent in-house.”
Seven wins, unknowns after the World Cup – and Brighton next
Seven straight wins to start the season, off the back of a World Cup that disrupted preparation and shortened pre-season. Has this start surprised him?
“We know how complicated it is to win a football match at this level,” he said. “So to win seven, it tells the story.”
He admitted there were “a lot of unknowns” about how the squad would react after the World Cup, especially with no time to work together. But the attitude impressed him from day one.
“Then you have to put it down to performances,” he said. “We had a bit of luck as well, for sure, to win four matches. And we are here. And then we want to make another one for sure tomorrow.”
Eight from eight. A century-old record in reach. A Brighton side he openly admires standing in the way.
Arteta won’t entertain talk of Invincibles or legacies. For him, it all comes down to one question at the Amex: can this Arsenal side once again “earn the right” to win?
