CM Story - The Story of Josh McEwen

AS Roma (3-4-2-1): Svilar, Hermoso, Ndicka, Ghilardi, Dumfries, Kone, Al Aynaoui, Robinson, Soule, Pellegrini, Dybala (Off 84) 

Subs: Gollini, Llorente, Cristante, Shomurodov, Wesley (84), Bove, Domenech, Pisilli, Cancelo 

Arsenal (4-3-3): Raya, Kayode, Saliba, Mosquera, Wijndal, Bouaddi, Rice, Odegaard, Nwaneri, Jesus, Eze 

Subs: Kepa, Branthwaite, Pienczak, Laimer, Lewis-Skelly, Zubimendi, Saka, Gyokeres, Martinelli 

Q: Elia not the result your side wanted what went wrong in tonights game? 

Elia D’Angelo “It was always going to be a tough game we knew this when the draw was made and obviously we saw at weekend Arsenal lost so we expected them to start brightly and they obviously did that. We just didn’t create as much as we wanted they kept the ball well and when we made mistakes they pressed fast and moved the ball quickly but I thought that we could have got something from the game we had the late chance for Paulo (Dybala) where he probably should score but they have a top keeper and he’s pushed it wide but there were some positives to take from that game.” 

Q: Josh back to winning ways after that disappointing defeat at weekend. There was no Bukayo Saka, Martin Zubimendi or Viktor Gyokeres in the starting eleven was that tactical or are they injured? 

Josh McEwen “Bukayo had a knock so hasn’t trained this week, Martin the last few games has looked a little tired he has taken some knocks and Gabriel has played well especially in the Champions League so he deserved to start this game so Viktor was on the bench. We will monitor them over the next few days and we will see what we start with at weekend against Brighton but I think they will all be fit and ready to play if called up on but the players who came in did well Gabi got a goal and an assist so he might start, Ethan (Nwaneri) switched to the right and got an assist and Ayyoub (Bouaddi) was great in midfield he just didn’t break it up as well as Martin can but on the ball he was superb.” 

Arsenal (4-3-3): Raya, Laimer, Saliba, Pienczak, Lewis-Skelly, Zubimendi, Rice, Odegaard (Off 78), Saka (Off 78), Jesus (Off 78), Martinelli 

Subs: Kepa, Branthwaite, Kayode, Mosquera, Wijndal, Gyokeres (On 78), Nwaneri (On 78), Bouaddi (On 78), Eze 

Brighton (4-3-1-2): Verbruggen, Zague, Dunk, van Hecke, Angelino, O’Riley, Ayari, Yalcouye, Rutter, Konate, Petit 

Subs: Rushworth, Boscagli, Minteh, O’Mahony, Gosselin, Gruda, Vickers, Buonanotte, Orozco Chiquete 

Q: Josh back to your best today. Obviously a lot of the headlines will be about Bukayo Sakas superb hat trick but just how good a team performance was that? 

Josh McEwen “Bukayo is a special player and is someone we really rely on when he plays like he did today he is unstoppable but like you say the whole team was brilliant not one player put a foot wrong and we are really pleased with how we performed. Gabriel Martinelli getting a goal was huge for his confidence he hasn’t played as much as he would have liked but thats the sort of statement I want my players to make when they want more game time so all credit goes to him for that and hopefully he can push on from here.” 

Q: Stanley a humiliating result for your side where you haven’t had a single shot. What went wrong today? 

Stanley Herbert “Arsenal were at their best I think its safe to say but we weren’t anywhere near good enough. It’s always difficult to come here and play against Arsenal and you know some were saying they were out of form but if certainly weren’t out of form today but again I say it we weren’t good enough to not have a single shot it isn’t good enough but we won’t feel sorry for ourselves we’ll bounce back and try and win next week.” 

Sunderland (4-4-2 Holding): Roefs, Pembele, Omari, Aidoo, Reinildo, Xhaka, Neil (Off 75), Talbi, Mundle (Off 54), Isidor (Off 64), Mayenda 

Subs: Patterson, Alderete, Le Fee (On 75), Brobbey (On 64), Mukiele, Adingra (On 54), Hekimoglu, Sadiki, Hume 

Arsenal (4-3-3): Raya, Laimer, Mosquera, Pienczak, Lewis-Skelly, Zubimendi, Rice, Odegaard, Nwaneri (Off 45), Jesus (Off 8), Martinelli (Off 45) 

Subs: Kepa, Branthwaite (On 45), Kayode, Trossard, Wijndal (On 8), Gyokeres, Norgaard, Bouaddi, Eze (On 45) 

Q: Cedric playing against nine men for fifty minutes does that feel like you have dropped two points rather than gained one? 

Cedric Veenstra “Errm probably because we dominated the second half and to be honest we would have won had they not had a keeper like david Raya in net because he made some incredible saves. It’s always tough against Arsenal they set up with five defenders in the second half to make things hard for us but we are so disappointed that we went behind to go behind against nine men you have to be more switched on from set plays because thats the best chance there going to have to score and we’ve given them a goal from a set piece. We’d have taken a point before the game but it feels like two dropped afterwards.” 

Q: Josh, Bukayo Saka, William Saliba and Viktor Gyokeres all got injured on international duty then to lose Myles Lewis Skelly in the first ten minutes followed by Martin Odegaard just before half time. How much did that bad start and them injuries cost you? 

Josh McEwen “Its the second time that William (Saliba) has been injured on international break in a row then we lost Saka as well so obviously we missed them but that doesn’t excuse the stupidity in the red cards especailly the second one you can’t dive in like that on a yellow but he has admitted it was stupid him and Myles (Lewis-Skelly) have apologised to the lads and we have picked up a point away from home when all odds would have been against us. David (Raya) was outstanding he made some excellent saves at crucial times and we have to thank him for this point.” 

Arsenal (4-3-3): Raya, Laimer, Mosquera, Pienczak, Lewis-Skelly, Zubimendi, Rice, Odegaard, Nwaneri, Jesus (Off 71), Martinelli 

Subs: Kepa, Branthwaite, Kayode, Trossard, Wijndal, Gyokeres (On 71), Norgaard, Bouaddi, Eze 

Bayern Munchen (4-2-3-1): Nubel, Stanisic, Upamecano, Tah, Davies, Pavlovic (Off 75), Palhinha (Off 68), Olise, Diaz, Rigg (Off 51), Kane 

Subs: Urbig, Konate (On 75), Bischof, Sieb, Ito, Gnabry (On 51), Krattenmacher, Goretzka (On 68), Seys 

Q: Josh a disappointing result for your side losing 3-2 at home. The first half you seemed to struggle defensively but second half you came out and dominated the game what did you say at half time? 

Josh McEwen “I thought both halfs we created opportunities but the second obviously we played a little bit better. I thought Ethan (Nwaneri) was the best players on the pitch he caused them so many problems and against the quality of left back he was against he is a real talent who just needs more consistency. We can’t go 3-0 down that is the thing we had to much to do and we came up short but we showed character and on another day maybe we come back but first half defensively we were to open.” 

Q: Vincent a fantastic win for your side against a very good Arsenal team. How pleased are you with that? 

Vincent Kompany “I am delighted with it, Arsenal are a top team and to come to the Emirates and win I think is huge and will do wonders for our confidence. The first half the way we broke at pace was outstanding they couldn’t cope with it the second half maybe we tired a little bit on them counters but I thought we were good value for the win and it shows that we can compete for this trophy because Arsenal are one of the favourites in my eyes.” 

Arsenal (4-3-3): Raya, Kayode, Saliba, Branthwaite, Wijndal, Zubimendi, Rice, Eze (Off 80), Saka, Gyokeres, Nwaneri (Off 70) 

Subs: Kepa, Pienczak, Laimer, Mosquera, Martinelli (On 70), Trossard, Norgaard (On 80), Bouaddi, Jesus 

Aston Villa (4-2-2-2): Bizot, Di Lorenzo, Konsa, Kiwior, Iling-Junior (Off 80), Kamara, Onana, Rogers, McGinn (Off 67), Watkins, Depay (Off 52) 

Subs: Gauci, Alaba, Tielemans, Redmond, Cash, Guessand (Off 80), Kostoulas (On 52), Bogarde, Garcia (On 67) 

Q: Josh another win and another two goals for Bukayo Saka on his return from injury. Just how impressed have you been with him so far this season? 

Josh McEwen “He is unbelievable. For me right now I think he’s the best player in the world the way he conducts himself on and off the pitch he is what this club is about. I thought as a team we played well today Aston Villa are a top team who cause a lot of problems but we dealt with them expertly and could have had one or two more but look we take the three points and move onto the next game against Leeds Tuesday night.” 

Q: Claudio it’s always disappointing to lose but are you proud of your sides performance today? 

Claudio Giraldez “Yeah I think we can be proud of the performance because we played a top team away from home and we caused them many problems. We would have liked to win the game but of course coming to this stadium is hard and its always harder when you play them after a loss because there is always a reaction but we weathered the early storm started asserting ourselves into the game then half time came. Second half they obviously took the lead but we hit straight back but we just couldn’t get a goal to go ahead and Bukayo showed his ability with a second goal that really hurt us.”

Arsenal (4-3-3): Raya, Laimer, Saliba, Pienczak, Wijndal, Zubimendi (Off 71), Rice, Odegaard, Saka, Gyokeres, Eze (Off 71) 

Subs: Kepa, Branthwaite, Kayode, Mosquera, Nwaneri (On 71), Martinelli, Norgaard, Bouaddi (On 71), Jesus 

Leeds United (4-4-1-1): Perri, Justin, Rodon, Bornauw (Off 71), Lewis-Potter, James (Off 74), Longstaff, Tanaka, Nakamura, Aaronson (Off 82), Joseph 

Subs: Meslier, Bijol, Stach (On 71), Nmecha (On 82), Gudmundsson, Ampadu, Calvert-Lewin, Ramazani (On 74), Christensen 

Q: Josh a first half where you dominated how disappointing was it go in level at half time and what went wrong in the second half? 

Josh McEwen “Obviously we were disappointed to concede just before half time in a half where they haven’t created any chances Dec has tried a back heel and given the ball away and from there they’ve obviously won the ball back and scored a good goal to be fair to them. Second half we seemed to lack confidence obviously right at the end their keeper has made a great save from Saka but I didn’t think we deserved to win the win the game we weren’t good enough. We had over 70% possession but didn’t create enough.” 

Q: Jagoba still in the relegation zone at the moment but how much belief will that draw give your team? 

Jagoba Arrasate “A lot it was a game that we could have won in the end but I am so proud of the way the lads fought. At half time we were disappointed despite being level we showed them far to much respect and we saw in the second half the mistakes you can force them into when we press them. I thought what we did exceptionally well was we moved the ball forward at pace, we knew we wouldn’t have a lot of the ball but when we had it we looked dangerous and caused them problems. It is a huge point and performance for us.”