Joey, do you like movies about gladiators?

Morning.

As expected Mikel Arteta was giving little away in his Friday press conference with regards players who might or might not be available for tomorrow’s encounter with Liverpool. On Bukayo Saka, Jurrien Timber, and Riccardo Calafiori, he said:

We’re going to do our very best to somehow have them available but it’s very uncertain.

There was a little more about how Saka had been training on the grass a bit; Timber might be in action in a training session after which a decision could be made; and Calafiori’s ability to make a rapid recovery when we think he’s injured; but not much more than that. Which is just what you expect from him ahead of a big game.

It also happened to be a question in the press conference, about controlling the information that’s in the public domain, to which Arteta replied:

We have a lot of information, a lot of sensitive information, a lot of information that people want to have and share, and it’s our obligation and duty to maintain and protect the club and the team in the best possible way.

I know it frustrates some people but I don’t really mind this at all. Arteta’s job is to win football matches, and if he believes that keeping as much under his hat can play even a tiny part in us doing that, then fair enough. Anyway, we can talk more tomorrow about possible line-ups, back four permutations, and all the rest.

What was clear from his press conference yesterday was the message the manager was keen to send. Whether it was aimed at the fans, his players, or just generally – the message was that feeling sorry for ourselves about injuries and suspensions and absences isn’t going to do anyone any good. He said:

This is the game. Obviously we didn’t want to be in that situation, but we are really lucky as well to have the squad that we have, to have the players that we have, to have the attitude that we have.

Get on with it, show your teeth, show how much you want it, the amazing opportunity for other people, the amazing opportunity for us as a team to rebel against certain situations, we need the crowd more. Maintain the same belief that even like this, we’re a great team.

Going into a game as big as this one with all the issues we have is not ideal, but I like this attitude. There are managers out there who would use their press conference to lay the groundwork for excuses if they had to potentially play without four or five key players, but so much of what Arteta has done at Arsenal is about the mindset of his team. Would it be better if we had a fully fit Saka, Timber, Odegaard, Tomiyasu, Saliba etc for tomorrow? Of course. Will it do the players any good to cry about it or make a big deal about that? No, it’d be counter-productive in the extreme.

So, it’s a fairly obvious approach for Arteta to have taken, and that message will be one that resonates with fans too. We obviously ‘feel’ every single injury and player absence, and as football fans do, we worry. We get anxious. We fret. It’s just the nature of it. But once that whistle goes on Sunday, the players have a job to do, and all we can do is watch.

Perhaps it’s akin to a scenario when you’re on a flight and there’s a bit of turbulence. As passengers, we worry. We get anxious. We fret. Then you look at the cabin crew and they’re just going about their business without a care, and you feel comforted by that. So, tomorrow the players are the cabin crew who won’t be panicking despite things being a bit bumpy, and in the cockpit we’re looking for Mikel Arteta to get us down safely with all three points.

And on that airplane related note, I’ll simply ask the big question, the one that’s on everyone’s lips: What’s our vector, Victor?

Exactly.

If you’d like something to listen to, we have a Liverpool preview podcast over on Patreon, in which we discuss the options that the manager might have for his back four, and the potential knock-on impact on other areas of the pitch too. Get it here.

For now, have a great Saturday, and I’ll be back tomorrow with a full preview of the game.