Attention then turned to Max Dowman’s possible involvement against Port Vale, with Arteta asked if he had any concerns about throwing such a young player into the physicality of League One football. Spoiler: no doubts at all. He also touched on Ethan Nwaneri’s versatility and stressed the value of using the Carabao Cup to build momentum

Here’s what he had to say…

On whether he has assembled one of the most attacking squads in the Premier League…

For sure, if you look at the players that we have, starting from the keeper – a very attacking goalkeeper, the most attacking goalkeeper in the league by far. The centre backs – one of them, the most attacking one, in one phase [at least] the most attacking one. The two full-backs, you look at every stat, that’s it. Zubimendi playing [the anchor], we play with a player on the right-hand side, an attacking midfielder [Merino] who played as a nine last year, so how attacking that is? More than a nine playing in midfield, I haven’t seen it in the league – an attacking midfielder that was a nine – and three front players that are very, very much attacking, so I think we have a lot of attacking, different qualities of attacking players, some of them more talented in some areas than others in relation to the game that we play, but yeah, very good.

On whether he encourages his goalkeeper to take risks…

It’s about understanding the risk-rewards, you know. I like to bet £1 to win £1 million, £1 million to win £1 is not a bet that I want to put on him, so it’s just understanding which area of the pitch [to do it], what value that’s going to give you in relation to the return.

On the importance of the Carabao Cup…

It’s changed a lot over the years since I was a player here at the beginning, the perception of the Carabao Cup before and now. You only have to see the line-ups of the teams when you go and play in the competition. We all want to win trophies, this is certainly one that we want to fight for, and we’re going to prepare in that way because every trophy that we are involved in, we want to win it.

On the Carabao Cup adding load to the legs of his players…

Yes, but at the moment as well we have players that haven’t played that many games, especially because it’s the start of the season and with the international break, we only play once with a mid-week. I think there is moments still now that it’s going to be very beneficial for the team and certain players to play minutes, and then we will have to see obviously throughout the season how the load is getting into certain individuals and try to manage it.

On Ethan Nwaneri being an option at number 10…

Yes, he can play in both attacking midfield positions, he can play as a right winger with different qualities than a right winger, but anything where he shifts to the right side is when Ethan’s qualities are at the optimal level and we’ll see that tomorrow.

On Max Dowman getting kicked by his teammates…

Not with a bad intention, it’s just when someone nutmegs you at 14, what do you do?

On whether he has any hesitation putting such a young player in against physical League One opponents…

No, because you watch the game he played with the under-23s, You and I watched the [under-19s] game England against Spain and in the first 40 minutes it was nine fouls. So it’s going to happen, he’s going to have to learn as well when to release the ball, when to attract [players to] his starting position. It’s very similar to Bukayo [Saka] at the beginning as well. Those players are going to attract players, contact, attention, and they have to be very smart about when you want that contact and when you don’t want it, and what you have to do to avoid it.

On Dowman’s temperament…

He just gets up. It’s very rare. Sometimes I get surprised by how cool he can be emotionally. I think it’s about repetition, he’s so used to it, now he knows that let the referee deal with it, and my team is probably [going] to defend me and we carry on playing.

On Dowman, who is over 6ft tall, learning the ‘dark arts’ and being able to handle himself…

Well, let’s see, he’s super smart. I mean, his football IQ, the way he makes decisions, the way he moves, he does it naturally. It’s not too much to coach, it’s the competitive part of the game that we need to evolve with him – to understand the nature of the game and a lot of the things that probably he doesn’t pay too much attention to. But that comes with minutes, with experience and by sharing a dressing room with these boys, they’re going to take him through a lot of stuff.

On pundits labelling him and Arsenal too cautious and that it’s the reason for not winning silverware…

Trying to convince somebody that feels that way to [think] something else, I cannot spend my energy on that. I think when you look at the winning record on this football club, the goals that we scored, the clean sheets that we had, the way we played, the way we played against Manchester City, the territory we played against Man City – I mean, I cannot waste that opportunity. And the intention of those comments, what are they? Good ones, positive, to be better for us, not to be so good for us. It depends where the comment is coming from. I think that’s when I can analyse it. What is the intention, what is the purpose of that? Because I heard a lot of things using my phone from people that could not believe what we did to Manchester City. And people, there are coaches, managers, CEOs, presidents, so proud. And I look at the players and the people around. I’m much more filled and fuelled with that than with other ones.

On the knock-on benefits of winning the Carabao Cup…

Yes, because winning a game has always a positive impact in the group, in the energy, in the atmosphere, confidence. So, winning tomorrow is going to help us for Newcastle, that’s for sure. And because we have, obviously, the duty to try to win the competition, without a doubt.

On his message to the fans at this point…

To maintain what they are doing, because it’s amazing. Everywhere we go, the support, the energy that they bring to the team, we really value. Because they could be doing something else, and they choose to come and follow the team and stay close to us. And the more we do that, the better we’re going to be.

On whether he watched the England [uncer-19s] vs Spain game back with Dowman…

Yes, unbelievable. He [the left-back marking Dowman] should have been sent off after 35 minutes.

On whether Dowman will be in the Port Vale squad…

It depends, I might put the handbrake on. Maybe I’ll play him as a full-back. If I play him as a full-back, then it’s too cautious…