Conference League Draw: Arteta tempers quadruple chat after Champions League draw (conference league draw)
Mikel Arteta said he is not thinking about Arsenal winning the quadruple but expressed excitement about the possibilities opened by Friday's Champions League draw and the wider conference league draw conversation. He stressed the team must focus on the present and on Sunday as they remain engaged on multiple fronts.
Conference League Draw reaction
Arteta said Arsenal had been handed a favourable Champions League draw on Friday and he is excited by the possibilities it creates. He emphasised that he is not concentrating on the outcome of a potential quadruple, saying: "Not really, not so much on the outcome. I focus on what we have to do to continue in the manner and the trajectory that we are as a team and from there obviously try to improve it. " He added that winning four trophies is extremely difficult: "Has it [the quadruple] been done? That's how difficult it is. Let's go game by game and let's try to earn the right to continue to be there until the last stage of every single competition and then we will see what happens. "
Arteta on the quadruple
Arteta acknowledged the optimism around being in contention on several fronts but insisted the focus must remain immediate: "We are really excited being in the four fronts and the way the team is consistently performing gives you a lot of hope and positive thoughts about what can be coming, " he said. He warned against emotional volatility during the run-in: "It is something that I need, if not it becomes insane if you are like this [motions up and down] every single day, if you are happy and sad like this, you cannot be like this. You cannot give your best with that. Obviously you have to be very critical with yourself, analytical with what we do and try to always be as good as we possibly can. I try to be as stable as possible, try to have perspective always about what a result or a performance brings outside or within the group and always try to be positive about it. "
Path in Europe
The Gunners will face Bayer Leverkusen in the round of 16 and could face either Bodo/Glimt or Sporting Lisbon in a potential quarterfinal should they progress. Arteta noted the last-16 draw took place in the hours before his press conference and said the team are "very excited to play the next round, we have earned the right to play in the group stage and find ways to be better than them. "
Kai Havertz update
On fitness, Arteta confirmed Kai Havertz is fighting his way back to fitness after a rare midweek break from action and is set to resume training tomorrow in one update. He said on Havertz: "We will see" in relation to availability, and elsewhere said of the forward's adjustment: "He needs to understand the team the league better. " Article notes state that Kai Havertz, Max Dowman and Ben White are all part of current team news lists.
Max Dowman and Ben White
Max Dowman will play for Arsenal's Under-21s against Ipswich Town later on Friday and Arteta said "Max will play some minutes tonight with the under-21s, Kai, we will see. " Regarding Ben White's availability Arteta added simply: "let's see. " The manager framed the squad's momentum in context of recent results: after a dramatic mood lift following last weekend's 4-1 win at Tottenham, Arsenal had earlier dropped points at Wolves when they allowed a 2-0 lead to slip in a 2-2 draw against the bottom-placed team.
Premier League and FPL notes
Arsenal sit top of the Premier League and remain in contention across all competitions ahead of next month's Carabao Cup final against Manchester City, with an FA Cup fifth round trip to League One Mansfield Town to come next weekend. Separately, FPL coverage highlighted Gameweek 28 matters: the deadline is 18: 30 BST on Friday and FPL expert Heisenberg (Wes Prickett) has seven finishes inside the top 30k and a best finish of 836th in the world. Heisenberg said it is tough to do well in Fantasy Premier League without Erling Haaland over the season, noting it would have been okay to avoid Haaland in GW18-24 but on the whole ownership is hard to avoid if he is red-hot. He cited other expensive players — Mo Salah, Cole Palmer and Bukayo Saka — and described them as largely disappointing this season, which affects decisions about owning Haaland. The FPL team-news rundown referenced Havertz, Dowman & White; De Ligt & Mount; Cucurella; Alcaraz; Doku back in training; Wirtz & Frimpong; Guimaraes & Miley; and Lewis Cook. The FPL Q&A page is written by Charlotte Coates, Adwaidh Rajan, George Booth and Ailsa Cowen and urged readers to send questions to Heisenberg the site's Get Involved function.
Arteta pointed to the wider season picture, noting the challenge of staying level-headed and saying: "I don't focus too much on the outcome, I focus on how we go. " He reminded that Arsenal must take it game by game and earn the right to remain in every competition's late stages.
