Arteta's office at Colney felt smaller than usual, the late afternoon light pressing in through the window, catching on the magnets and notes scattered across the tactics board.
He sat back in his chair, arms folded, eyes fixed on nothing in particular as he spoke.
"At least one good thing came out of it," he said. "They left Izan out."
Across from him, Gabriel Heinze nodded, elbows resting on his knees.
"Yeah. That helps. A lot."
Arteta exhaled through his nose, half a sigh, half relief.
"He might not have needed it, but I did," he said with a little laugh at the end, causing Heinze to also chuckle.
They shifted naturally into what came next, the rhythm of planning already familiar to them.
"Forest after the break," Heinze said. "They haven't had a very good start performance-wise, but they are tenth in the league."
"And then Bilbao," Arteta added. "First Champions League game. It seems like the number of matches is increasing every season."
