Every word Mikel Arteta said on West Ham, Odegaard and Rice injuries, overcoming scars

Arsenal went top of the table after they comfortably beat West Ham United. Declan Rice, a former Hammer, scored the first, and Bukayo Saka scored the second.

There was some bad news, however, as Rice and Martin Odegaard left the field with knocks. This is the sixth game in seven that the Gunners have lost a player to injury in the Premier League.

From the way Arteta spoke, despite being delighted with the victory, he was not too pleased about the issues suffered by two key players.

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Here is every word the Gunners boss said from the press conference room:

A good win today, obviously two defeats against West Ham in the last two games here, was it something you were quite keen to make up for today?

Yeah, well the last two games have been very special in that sense in Newcastle because we had a history there, a lot of scars and a lot of learnings to take, we put that right and then we had West Ham losing two games at home in the previous two seasons, I told them it was a big opportunity, we had very difficult fixtures since the start of the season, some very bad injuries as well, not helping, and still the team is performing, playing well and winning today with absolute dominance and without conceding a goal, so good to get to an international break in this period.

And just on Martin Odegaard, he had to go off in the first half, is there any update or is it too early to know?

Well I think he had a clash knee-to-knee, and immediately he was uncomfortable, I just spoke to him, he's not positive about it, he's got a brace on, we'll have to wait and see from the doctors, but we haven't been very unlucky with that either.

Just on Martin again, how disappointing is it here, especially after the performance in midweek and he's had to come off three times now?

Yeah, we haven't had him since the start of the season for one reason or the other, the shoulder twice and then this injury. So yeah, we'll have to wait and see the extent of that injury, and we'll find solutions, but obviously he’s our captain is a player that gives us a completely different dimension with the things that he can do, especially in attacking, and let's wait, and hopefully it's not that bad.

I want to ask about Calafiori because I was under the impression that he was a left-back but he's played pretty much everywhere on that field today, so what does his role bring to your team?

Yeah, a lot of dynamism, sometimes a bit chaotic, but I think his dynamism and the spaces and the situations that he can create are very difficult to control, especially against a team that is very well-organised and you have to disrupt their organisation in order to create chances and I think we've done that really well.

Can I ask you about Declan, is he alright? Did he hurt his back or something? Is it serious? And B, how pleased were you with how he made quite a difficult chance look easy today?

Well, he's not alright because he asked me to come off, so that's a shame. So, he had pain in his back and he could not carry on, which is something very unusual for Declan, so we'll have to assess him and see how he is.

But also today though, the fact is that you suffered a couple of blows but you had so much quality to bring on, is that maybe the difference that you were still quite comfortable today being able to bring on Zubimendi?

Yes, for sure, that's what we want but it's not ideal because we had really clear intentions with the line-up as well, what we wanted to do and that last very few minutes because of the injuries of Martin but the good thing is that, as you said, we can bring somebody else and be a little bit different but still very, very efficient.

Just with bringing on Zubimendi, what was the thinking there? Because when Odegaard’s come off before, Ethan's the one that's replaced him, so did you want something a bit different?

Yes, especially the way they acted and the way they were matching our midfield and the spaces that we could create with Zubi, I think was better. They didn't have any intention to play or combine in the first phase as well, so that was creating a lot of direct play, second balls, and we wanted to make sure that we could control that to dominate the game in the areas that we wanted and that's the reason why.

With the midfield that started, you said you had clear intentions with that, were you happy with what you saw from them and would you try that midfield again?

Yes, we need more and more chemistry, and we need a longer period because the first part, until they start to live it and find the solutions and the tools that are going to allow them to flourish. Sometimes it takes a while in the team, but it never happened because it was too early in the Martins' injury.

You're 300th famous manager today, is it getting a bit easier now?

Well, very proud is a big number for this football club. I want to thank everybody, especially my coaching staff that have been with me since day one and without them it's impossible first of all to do the job and secondly to enjoy it. So I know that I have the best people in the world around me and after all the players and the staff that have been since day one, supporting, helping me to be a better coach, to learn from them, to inspire me and to enjoy the good moments as well. So I wanted to celebrate it with a win, I've got it. Now we have an international break to enjoy it and use the time as well to prepare because what's coming in the next break is going to be really difficult again.

And some words on, thoughts on Bukayo Saka, 200 Premier Leagues...

Yeah, when you look at those numbers, 200 games, 100 goal involvements, I mean it's unbelievable that his age, what he's doing, the manner that he's doing it as well, really impressive. That's the kind of players that we need to achieve what we want.

Looking forward now you've got games against Fulham, Crystal Palace, Burnley, Sunderland. Of course no game is easy, but having obviously won 1-0 away, St James’ Park but now with those games ahead, is this a real chance for you to really make a statement and make some new roads at the top of the table?

Yeah, we know how difficult those games are going to be, but we wanted to come here because we had some very difficult fixtures, playing some of the top teams, some of them away as well, with some big injuries as well. We had to adjust a lot of things with some players that were coming as well from big injuries and surgeries in the first few weeks of the season. So, it's been a challenge, but the team has been I think, very convincing in performances and results, and it's a good that from now to continue.

When you have these injuries it seems as though people that do come off the bench are slotting in fast and early, if you've got the depth and also coming off the bench quickly, how important is that aspect?

Critical. We're playing every three days and with the intensity that we play and the requirements of the opposition, it's impossible to maintain the same players. So the ones that are coming, they have to lift the level, the intensity and help us to win the game. We talked about it many, many times and in this period especially, I think it's been really, really positive.