MIKEL Arteta was understandably in a jolly good mood on Tuesday night after his Arsenal side cruised to the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup.
The Gunners shot down Sunderland 5-1 with a first-ever hat-trick from Eddie Nketiah, and further strikes from Nicolas Pepe and 18-year-old Charlie Patino.
“Very good. We are through to the semi-final which is what we wanted,” Arteta said of his team’s performance during his post-match press conference.
“We decided to rotate quite a lot today and it took some time in the first half to get that cohesion. We scored two good goals but after that we lacked something. We got more control in the second half and scored some beautiful goals as well.”
Treble hero Nketiah has often been linked with a move away from the club following a lack of opportunities in the first team, especially in the Premier League.
However, Arteta had high praise for the striker who has now scored 10 goals in nine career Carabao Cup appearances.
“I tell you every day that we want to keep Eddie,” the manager said.
“We see how he trains, that’s what he does every day, he works so hard and puts the ball in the net every session. I am really delighted with him. Every time we have needed him he has always responded.
“The way we planned the squad and the way his situation looked in the window, he had a lot of options to go and we thought that was probably the best way to go. But the way we assembled the squad the situation changed and he decided to stay and it was hard to found minutes for him.
“But he’s finding the space right now and is using his minutes really well.”Arteta promised that Nketiah will be given more opportunities in the more competitive games after his excellent outing against the third-tier side.
“We are trying. It’s not about anything else but minutes,” the Spaniard explained.
“He wants game time, he wants to be on that field and that is the only reason to say, ‘Can I do it here?’ That’s the question. We all want him to stay.
“Yes (he will have more chances). Recently he’s played more minutes than in the past and we’re going to need him and he’s going to play more minutes.
“I don’t know if he’s different to other other strikers but I really like what he has. He has incredible work rate, he has pace and has the smell for goals.
“He has the capacity to finish in the box on any surface and then I really like his character. He wants to be the best and works all the time to do that. He’s a player that has come through our system and that’s why we want to keep him.”
The three other Carabao Cup semi-finals will be held on Wednesday night, with Brentford hosting Chelsea, Leicester City welcoming Liverpool and West Ham travelling the short distance across London to face Tottenham Hotspur.
