Mikel Arteta was a happy man after securing five straight wins by beating Leicester City on Sunday.

The boss discussed Thomas Partey, Martin Odegaard, Aaron Ramsdale, racing in the top four and more.

Read on for a full transcript:

on Thomas Partey’s goal…

Yeah he almost scored on the shot he had a great shot that hit the crossbar so he was involved in both goals the header he also won from the penalty spot and the other action where he had the shot. You can see he was voted player of the month, he has come a long way, he has the consistency of the minutes, he understands much better what we want, his cohesion and understanding with the rest of the players is getting better and better better and now it’s a matter of consistency and keep doing it

on our constancy…

This is what all coaches want and they understand what we want to do and they can also do it at a certain speed, but then it becomes more complex because it takes the right timing, the right technique, the right quality. , good decision making, but you could see today that there have been times when it clicks and everyone is on the same page and they are all looking for the same things, that is very important

on the form of Martin Odegaard…

He was great again today in all aspects of the game, what he needed to do in defence, when we were high, when we were deep, in the build-up phases, in the final third, the way he understands and manages the game when necessary. I think he has come a long way since he arrived, he shows great maturity and responsibility on the pitch and he makes other players better I think.

if we made a good deal with Odegaard…

I don’t know, it’s still a bit early to tell! But we were certainly convinced that a player who could fit into our club, into our model, that he has all the values ​​that we want from players to represent this club and then he has the qualities for what we want to do. and we are really happy with it.

on the value of the happiness of our players…

That’s how it should be! I think if the players who represent the club are not happy, like the people we are responsible for, I think we have to go somewhere else because we are doing something wrong. They have the joy and the privilege of being football players, they have to enjoy it, that’s the purpose of what they do and now you can really feel that they are having a good time together, they like to play football. football with that freedom they can express it and that’s all about it.

on whether Liverpool will be a big test for us on Wednesday night…

It’s a different level now, and we need to take the game to a new standard to have a chance of beating them, and we know that. Tomorrow we are going to start preparing how we can beat them, and how we are going to start believing that we can beat them, which is crucial in order to be able to beat them.

on Ramsdale making superb saves against Leicester this season…

I think we made a great save. I think with Barnes heading in at a crucial moment when we were down to a zero, that’s when you need your goalie to come out and get you out of trouble, and he certainly did. still done today.

on Partey’s great form, and what Mikel has done to help him…

Probably on his neck every day, because he kinda needs it. It comes from the player if I think. We discussed this a bit at the press conference the other day, but I think when a player accepts his reality, and when a player accepts that – OK, he wants to be in a different position – you can’t don’t expect this (change) to happen if you don’t change anything you do. So he started doing lots of other things, and we can see that he’s having fun on the pitch, and that’s what we want.

if he allows himself to look at the table and believe that we will maintain our current position…

I look at the board with the games we have left. We know where we are now, but we have to look ahead. We have to watch what we do, focus on our performance and prepare for the next game and that’s it. Because the rest is just guesswork. I’m not a great player, never have been and I don’t want to play.