Mikel Arteta on Arsenal's Title Hopes, Viktor Gyökeres, and why it's time for his team to "explode": Men in Blazers 08/15/25

0:00Rog:It's Rog, here to sing my praise for a very special New Balance football boot, the 442. It's no-nonsense, workhorse midfielders and defenders, the ones who do the dirty work, but also ping a pass to perfection. It's a classic boot design with modern enhancements, with an ultra-lightweight sole, synthetic microfibre material, retains a soft premium in-hand feel, allowing for the lighter weight, the superior touch on the ball. Get a pair for yourself or the footballer in your family at newbalance.com slash soccer. You're listening to the Men in Blazers Media Network, Suboptimal Radio. This pod was recorded during Men in Blazers football holiday, a five-day romp across the nation, interviewing some of the Premier League's biggest personalities, Pep Guardiola, Virgil van Dijk, Enzo Mareska, Mikel Arteta, as well as all the pints, all the pies, and producing the podcast you're about to hear.

0:54Rog:It's brought to you by our good friends at Yeti, the official luggage and drinkware partner of the Men in Blazers media network. I love them. Massive thanks to those human beings in Austin for making this whole thing possible to the pod.

1:06Mikel Arteta:The best data was my first Zoom call with him. I wanted to just look at his reaction. Coming to Arsenal, imagine yourself putting that shirt on, walking into a dressing room with the expectation that's around you. How do you handle it? Eyes open like this. That's my dream. So that's the best data.

1:26Rog:My guest today is a gent who's on an epic quest of Lord of the Rings proportion to take Arsenal Football Club and put them back at the top of the Premier League and make Anne Hathaway smile. He's a thinker, an innovator, who's already given English football its greatest gift, win the dog. It's a joy to welcome back Mr. Mikel Arteta. Hello, pleasure to be with you here. Mikel, it's amazing to be with you. 380 games lie ahead over 283 days. Everything is possible. Maze of challenges to come. How do you feel on the eve of the Premier League season? Are you nervous? Are you excited? What's the stress level between 1 and 10?

2:06Mikel Arteta:Excitement. I think I had a good summer. I recharge the batteries. I connected again with my family, with myself. I feel so honoured to represent this football club, to do what I do every single day. And then the day I turned the lights on at the training ground and everybody was here back again with big smileys and big energy and said, let's go, let's go again.

2:27Rog:This is a crucial season for the club. You don't need me to remind you the finishing position the last three seasons. You know me, I'm an Everton fan, I'd bite your arm off for second place. But when you look back at last season, what do you pinpoint that went wrong?

2:41Mikel Arteta:Well, a lot of things have to go right to finish second in the Premier League and to do the amount of points that we have done more than any other club in three seasons in the Premier League. So a lot of stop things you have to do. But what we missed, in my opinion, was that we missed some top top players, players that have to be in the pitch impacting results. For four or five months we missed them and it was not one, it was four or five of them. And that's why we came short, in my opinion. but even though we did it, I think we did it in a way that I think we have to be really privileged.

3:13Rog:So when the squad reassembled for the challenge to come, what was your message for this team? What theme are you using this year to set down for them?

3:21Mikel Arteta:It's time to explode now. We've been like the volcano that is there and is ready to go. And we have everything to go and we need to play with that excitement. One thing about this team is the energy level, is the commitment, is the connection between ourselves and our supporters. and we need to play with that joy. We are a very competitive team. We want to win every single match and no doubt that we're going to continue that way. But with that fire, that is the joy to play with each other and win full matches together.

3:50Rog:I'm fascinated. A number of the players have already said in interviews, in fact, it's the theme, I think, of your second shirt, reach new heights. I mean, it can only be one position. There is that new height. Are you of the mindset that if you can't speak it out and talk about it, you can't make that goal happen?

4:06Mikel Arteta:Yeah, first of all, you have to believe in it and really generally believe in it. And when we talk about this, okay, we need to describe how good we are in a lot of things that we do. And then they realise it, but the boys are so convinced. We know that it's a really tough season coming up, probably the toughest ever, because of the quality of every team, the way everybody has reinforced their squats. But at the same time, it's probably the most exciting one as well.

4:30Rog:You and I talked two months ago, near the end of the season, and you talked about the injuries then, talked about the red cards. You said that any other team had 0 % chance to try and chase that title. You called the margins in the PSG semifinal millimetrical. Mikkel, you've been in title winning locker rooms. You know the infinitesimal difference between winning and second place. Mentally, can you put that into words?

4:55Mikel Arteta:What is the margin? For me, the one is that the ingredient that every team has had and you look at PSG last year is you have your best players available in March, April and May. Without that, believe me, yes, yes, yes, but probably the margins are so, so small. So what the main focus is on that. I'm sure we're going to work to improve in every aspect of the game. The way those boys push each other, they manage each other and their will to win is certainly there. So step by step.

5:23Rog:The squad is built up to the summer. Most fascinating meeting arrival, Victor Jochores,$74 million. You've been resistant to the idea of a very focused number nine. He's arrived now, a gentleman that is thinking only about clinical play in front of goal. How do you expect his arrival to change the style of play for Arsenal this

5:45Mikel Arteta:season? Well, he's going to bring a different level of threat. I've never been stopping to have a nine like this at all, never. The thing is that we have adapted to the players and trying to get the best out of the players that we have. And now we have somebody with a unique ability to put the ball in the back of the net. He's only more often than anybody else, almost in Europe. And that's a big quality to have in the team.

6:05Rog:Joca Resch is 27 years old. He was on the books at Brighton and Hove Albion when he was 19. Went on loan to a series of clubs. Coventry was where he started his climb. We all know the statistics. Blasted 97 goals in 102 games for Sporting in Portugal. This is no doubt a clinical gent, but he's not yet proven it in the top five leagues of Europe. That's what everybody's looking at. Can you tell us what you've seen in the data that tells you for sure Jokeres is going to be a force?

6:32Mikel Arteta:The best data was my first home call with him. That was the best data. Tell us about it. I told him the idea that I had and I wanted to just look at his reaction. Like coming to Arsenal, imagine yourself putting that shirt on, walking into a dressing room with expectations around you. how do you handle it? Eyes open like this. That's my dream. So that's the best data. Because you can have all the data, but this guy has to come in that leg room with that pressure into that league. And that for me, that was the most important data. The other data I knew is how this guy is going to behave when he comes in that pitch with that security, with that dominance and with that arrogance almost to say, don't worry, I will do it.

7:10Rog:That's what you saw, Aito. You saw a gentleman, no doubts. So you had no doubts. And when When you asked me the question, I did think how I'd deliver if you asked me that. And I'd say I think you can do better. Another fascinating addition to the squad, 15-year-old Max Dowman. Kid, this kills me, he was born after the movie Avatar was released and he's making Premier League footballers look silly in pre-season. You've called him after his performance in Singapore, quote, special. And you said it's certainly not common to witness his skills for a 15-year-old. Mikhail, how good is Max Dowman and what's his ceiling?

7:44Mikel Arteta:I don't know. We don't know the ceiling. We didn't know how he would react to this environment, and he did it in a way that probably nobody expected it. But again, it's about the personality. And when you look at him and when you throw him in the training session, and then around the boys, it just glides and is one of them immediately. And that's what he does with the ball. I mean, physically, the demands that those players have to go through is incredible. So at 15, is he mature enough to do that? The answer is, he's done it. He's done it in a really convincing way against Milan. He's done it against Newcastle.

8:14Mikel Arteta:So he has a unique ability and we need to respect that. And we need to be conscious of the age that he's got. But at the same time, let him enjoy and fulfill his potential.

8:24Rog:How do you strike that balance, giving him opportunities while protecting him, bringing him on slowly?

8:29Mikel Arteta:Well, being very connected with him and his environment, understanding his family as well, his education, what they expect of him, because that's a journey that at this moment goes very close together. And at some point, football has to be the main thing. And at the moment, it's not only football. We need to respect that and we need to make that transition as smooth as possible. And the speed of that, it will depend on how pushy he is and how determined he is to do it. Last season, set pieces.

8:55Rog:When Arsenal got one, you'd lean forward in your seat. I mean, it's such a rich well of goals. I think in the first 21 games, you led the league with 12 set piece goals. But then a drought. None came in the next 12. Each intricate bespoke play that you work on, you drill on, they have a time clock. Are set pieces a unique advantage that are eventually found out? Or can you keep designing new ways to exploit and summon a new advantage?

9:20Mikel Arteta:Yeah, we will try from every phase of play. I think personnel is key. Injuries as well, they play a big part of those numbers. So there is an impact in everything that you do. At the end, the idea is great. At the end, it's who are the actors and what role they have to execute. That's the most important thing, because you need to pick the right actor for the right line, for the right context. And when you do that, good things happen.

9:41Rog:Enter Christian Norgard. That man is going to be, I think, a monster this season. You have a tough start to the season. United, Liverpool, City, Newcastle in your first six games. Mikael, how do you think about a season? Do you break it into halves? Is it like a chess game with an opening, a mid-game and a closing game? Do you periodise it into many, many fractions?

10:05Mikel Arteta:You periodise, especially your training and the content and what you have to train. but then you just go game by game because the game leaves all the time things, you know, positive things, whether it's a result, whether it's a performance, it's always something living there that you have to be restored, ignited, pushed, and that's the most important thing. And then obviously our preparation has been focused to be able to play and compete in any context. So under any manager, under any system, under any formation, under any results, that's the word that we've been through Precision.

10:38Rog:What do you define as success for this year? Do you need a trophy to be satisfied?

10:44Mikel Arteta:Well, we certainly won a trophy and we won the big ones. And we're going to really give in everything that we absolutely have to achieve that. But success can be measured in very different ways. And a trophy is probably the most common one for everybody. But a success as well is the transformation this football club has, the identity that this football club has, the performances that this football club has in the last three seasons at the highest level, the raise of a lot of talent, you know, development of a lot of players, the fact that the players want to stay here, that the players want to come here, the players enjoy being part of Arsenal Football Club.

11:17Mikel Arteta:That's part because at the end we need to enjoy the daily thing, not only just the match, but the ultimate goal for sure is to win major trophies. What do you agree is fear? And what do you do with fear? Fear?

11:30Rog:Yeah.

11:30Mikel Arteta:I think fear comes from responsibility and probably expectations as well. And when you set expectations really high, when you have the confidence that you can do it, football is the most unpredictable sport in the world. So that thing that we might be 10 times better in the position, we might lose the game, but it keeps your belly going constantly and waking up at night, what you said.

11:55Rog:I mean, you are a man of passion. You are a man who's constantly searching for even marginal gains. Some would say you're an obsessive. How do you, do you switch off? Do you find a way during the season to switch off? Or are you just all in now until May?

12:09Mikel Arteta:I can switch on to other things. Switch off football, it is difficult. But I switch the button on family and I'm with my family and I'm fully on my family. Or I have to put attention to anybody to support him in any other aspect and I'm fully capable of doing that. But the football is always on. and he doesn't bother me and he's always there, he's always in the background and he's what I loved him most with my family, so it's part of it.

12:33Rog:To more scenes of you this season, walking with Wynne the dog, when I see you walking out in those interviews, I'm like, please God, let his mind be off football even for a minute. Serious question, do you sleep well, Mikel?

12:45Mikel Arteta:Yes.

12:46Rog:You do. Have you trained yourself to sleep well?

12:48Mikel Arteta:I have a specialist to that. You do? I brought it many years ago, not for myself, but as well for all the staff and players because it's key. I think we have so much education about diets. You ask my kids and they know what they have to eat, when they have to eat it, what is healthy, what is unhealthy. With sleep, it's still not enough education. And it's, for me, the most fundamental part of the quality and your health. Do you dream about attacking a low block?

13:13Rog:Does football, before a big game, does tactics seep into your dream life?

13:17Mikel Arteta:Yeah, there are a lot of dreams and related to football and different things with your players, with certain situations that can occur in games. and yeah, it's there somewhere in the brain. So while you are sleeping, these things can happen. Can you teach yourself to dream positively? I'm not sure about that.

13:34Rog:I know the writer specialist to do that. God bless. To those dreams, to a season of meaning, to a season of GSA, joy to you, Mikel.