What does it mean to be back at Arsenal?
I've been back home. I'm extremely happy and proud to have been given the opportunity to
be the manager of this football club. I've been preparing for a few years for this challenge
to come. I know the expectations, I know the level and I know the stature of this club,
and what it deserves.
So I'm ready for that challenge, I can't wait to start working with the players, and everybody
here at the club. But I've got a good vibe, I'm sensing a good energy since I walked in
at London Colney, so it's giving me more energy and I feel so happy.
How did it feel walking back into the training ground and stadium?
Yeah. It was strange. It's been four or five years ago in a different role and a different
position, but it was always a dream for me on the day I left, and I made a decision to
leave this football club, I said to the people that I am going outside, I'm going to learn,
I am going to get prepared and hopefully one day I can come back here when I feel that
I am ready to make that step.
I have so much respect for this football club that if I didn't feel that I am ready, I am
prepared for this, then I wouldn't be sitting in this chair.
What do you want to change?
The first thing is a little bit to change the energy. Last week I was here with Manchester City
and I was a little bit down after the game when I felt what was going on. So we
have to try to engage everybody, I have to try and convince the players about what I
want to do, how I want to do it, they have to start accepting a different process, a
different way of thinking, and I want to get all the staff and everybody at the club with
the same mindset.
We have to build a culture that has to sustain the rest. If you don't have the right culture,
in the difficult moments, the tree is going to shake, so my job is to convince everybody
that this is how we are going to live, and if you are going to be part of this organisation
it has to be in these terms and in this way. And after that, we can talk about other things.
Obviously now we need an immediate impact, we need to start winning games, we need to
start to raise the level of confidence of the players, and finally we need the fans.
We need to engage them, we need to be able to transmit with our behaviours, our intentions,
what we want to bring to this football club.
I think that's the only way, where we give them a little bit, they give us a little bit,
and suddenly we feel that connection, because when plug plug these two things together,
it is so powerful. I've been outside this football club and when you're outside you
look at it and you say 'wow, this is massive'. So this is how I'm feeling.
There is so much to do, I am so excited, and I think we have the right team, I have many
conversations with the senior people at the club, and I feel we're on the same path. So
I have a good feeling.
Has the club lost its way?
That's what I'm sensing from the outside. I would like to start to make some steps and
start to understand the reasons why. There will be reasons behind it, and a history behind
it, and I have to try to understand quickly why this is, to implement certain things that
will be quick wins, for the players, the staff and everybody.
That is the challenge now. We don't have much time to train, much time to talk about other
things, because there are some important games coming up. We have to create the right vibe,
the right energy, and everybody at the organisation has to feel so privileged to be here. There's no other way.
What advice has Pep Guardiola given you?
Advice? What I've learned mostly is that you have to be ruthless and you have to be consistent
and you have to fit every day the culture of the club to create a winning mentality.
To sustain it is even harder, so every day is important, every act is important, every
organisation is important.
His work-rate is incredible, how inspirational he is to people is incredible. But for me,
the secret is that the people, the players and the staff, have to believe what they're
trying to deliver. You have to be able to transmit it, and people will buy into that.
When you do that, then you are a team and everybody's together and united you're stronger.
What do you say to fans who are concerned over your lack of experience?
I completely understand their concern. That's the only thing I can say but I will try to
convince them that I'm prepared, that I wouldn't be sitting here if I honestly didn't think
I'm prepared to take this responsibility. I will burn every drop of blood for this football
club to make it better.
How close did you come to getting the job 18 months ago?
A little bit close. It wasn't the right time. When things don't happen it's because it isn't
the right time. The right time came now and I'm glad.
I learned a lot from that experience as well. It was great to be part of a process of that
nature and I was very prepared for this one. I think it helped. I think it was a very positive
thing to happen.
What does Arsenal mean to you?
When I was playing in England, I started to realise what Arsenal meant. Obviously I was
born in Barcelona and the club that had the most similar style and most similar values
and ambition was Arsenal. So I always talked to the people around me and said that I had
a dream and that was to play for this football club.
There was one man, his name is Arsene Wenger, that believed in me and gave me the opportunity
to play for this club. After that, he made me captain of this football club and I wouldn't
be sitting here if he didn't have the vision to give me the opportunity to enjoy this incredible club.
What has been going wrong at Arsenal in the last 18 months?
I have my ideas that I would like to keep to myself because I have to corroborate them
when I see them act, when I see them behave, when I see them live together. I want to do
things my way but by convincing them that's it's the right way for everybody to live better.
Everybody has to respect each other first of all, and I want people who are accountable
for what I'm asking for them to do. I don't want them hiding, I want people to take responsibility
for their jobs and I want people who deliver passion and energy in the football club.
Anyone who doesn't buy into this, or that has a negative effect or whatever, is not
good enough for this environment or this culture. There are things to change, absolutely, because
they're not performing at the level that we expect them to.
I will have to help them and to help them I need to know what's happening, I need to
understand how they're feeling, what they're lacking. If I get to reach that point, then
I can help them. Then they will trust me and then they will follow me.
You're now the youngest manager in the Premier League?
Time will tell. To talk about experience, experience in my job... My job has a lot of
roles and responsibilities. Some of them I was doing in my previous job, some others
I was not. Most of them are linked and there are things that either you do have or you don't have.
The experience bit I can't touch, it's completely against me. The good thing is that I feel
young. When I was playing at 34, I was always the oldest and now as a manager, I'm the youngest.
It has a lot of positive things as well on that. I know it's one of these things where
I have to adapt to the job. I have a lot of good people around me to support me and we
will try our best.
How will you manage Mesut Ozil?
He's a massive player for this football club. As I said before, what I want is to understand
how they are feeling and what they need. It's not so much about what I need. You have to
understand them.
Sometimes with conversation, you get to understand a point. When you understand them, I can take
the excuses out of them and focus on the things that are relevant and have an impact on the
team on and off the pitch.
Of course he's a massive player. I work with him and I know when he clicks, what he can
bring to the team. It's my job to get the best out of him, of course.
What are your plans for the January window?
We haven't discussed the transfer windows and obviously there are a lot of conversations
to have around that. I'm only concerned about trying to win football games right now and
finding a way to improve little things that bring them confidence. To step on that football
pitch and improve what they've been doing.
What can Arsenal achieve this season?
I think to set targets at the moment is not what I would like to do. I would like to take
it day by day. We have a lot of things to do but what is clear is that the ambitions
of this football club are very clear.
You have to be in Europe, you have to fight for trophies and the rest is not good enough.
It's as simple as this. To talk about this now is a little bit far [away]. I would like
to talk about what we're going to be doing tomorrow in the game, lifting the morale of
thee team and then Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday we'll be working together for the
game again.
Have you spoken to Freddie Ljungberg about his role?
It's a conversation I was having this morning when we addressed the players and spoke to
them. I had a conversation with him afterwards to see his expectations and how I see the
situation. We will know something soon. I haven't had a chance to speak to him.
What was Guardiola's reaction when you left City?
Listen, the relationship between me and Pep is incredibly good. Obviously he was sad and
the timing wasn't the best for him but he understood. He knows how I've been growing
and the needs that I have emotionally, the ambitions that I had, and he kept giving me
more and more and more over the years.
If I had admiration for him before, after working with him I cannot explain how much
of a nice person he is and what a professional he is. The way he reacted with me looking
at my eyes, he knew that I was suffering because I was leaving in a moment where they need
me a little bit as well, so I felt in that sense a little bit sad.
But he's been so supportive, the same as Txiki, as Ferran and Khaldoon - I was on the phone
with him yesterday. The terms that we left the relationship in, they could not be any
better. I said goodbye to all the staff at the training ground yesterday, all the players,
I cried because they've been my family for three and a half years and we've had incredible moments.
We had a dream to do something in England with Pep that people said was impossible to
do because we would get bullied in the Premier League, and we did it in a way we believed
we could do it. That's so fulfilling and we will share that feeling for the rest of our
lives, the moment that we lived together.
Why is now the right time to become a head coach?
Because sometimes in this industry you can have a plan, an idea or a way to develop the
best possible way. Then the emotions get involved. When Arsenal knocks on any door, it's difficult
to say no.
When it knocks on my door, this is my house and it makes it very difficult. It was a very
difficult decision, it's true, but also I felt that the club needed someone to appoint.
I saw that and they transmitted that.
They were so convinced that they wanted to go with me, that I had to take the challenge.
When will your coaching team be announced?
That's not in my hands. It's the lawyers and the paperwork. I would like to do that as
quickly as possible but to be fair, the timescale has been hectic. I had a game with City so
there were a lot of things that had to be done. It will be announced very, very shortly.
What capacity will Ljungberg be staying on in?
Like I said before, I need to sit down and have a proper conversation. I didn't believe
that today was the day, just before travelling to speak to Freddie for 10 minutes because
I might need to speak with him for eight hours to really understand then situation, his aims,
what he's seen from the players.
I need to understand the history of what's happened in the last 18 months at the club.
We will sit down, grab a coffee or a bowl of coffee, then we will make the decision.
Have you spoken with him about your plans for tomorrow?
No, I just said, 'You know them, you've been training with them, do what you feel is right'.
I told them a little bit what I wanted from them and that's it.