Here is every word from Mikel Arteta’s post-match press conference after Arsenal’s win over Hull City

Mikel Arteta faced the media following Arsenal’s win over Hull City at the Emirates Stadium. The Spaniard struck a frustrated figure on the sidelines as his team battled away to secure the narrow win.

There were question marks over the fitness of Declan Rice as the midfielder left the field around 60 minutes. Meanwhile, a VAR decision was made that has sparked major debate, and the Spaniard was asked for his thoughts on the call.

Plus there was a focus on offsides as well with Kai Havertz now tallying 15 for the season, more than any Arsenal player from all of the previous league campaign. Arteta was questioned on how he unlocks more from this side.

Here is every word from the press conference:

On the game

I'm delighted with the win because to go to the international break after winning is one of the best things for a coach or for a player I think. Regarding the performance, I think we were the better team. I think we had enough chances to make the scoreline much bigger.

We weren’t efficient enough to do that. And then we have to rely on generating volume, generating a lot of situations in and around the box, insisting, insisting and insisting until we are able to break them down. And this is exactly how we won the game.

And Martin, the way he scored is not the most beautiful one but the most effective one, which is that simple shot and follow the next action. And that was enough today to win the game.

It's been a demanding start to the season but nine wins in ten games, how would you assess it?

Well, I think I need to praise the players and all the staff as well behind the scenes for the work that they are doing because it's been very, very demanding. We had a very short time to recover from games with all the travel. But despite that, the mentality and the quality of the team is shown, it's incredible.

So, we are not in a really strong position. We know that we can improve in a lot of areas and we'll analyse in this break how we're going to do that. And I will know what to expect afterwards because it's going to be super difficult.

A bit of a problem in the first half today and maybe throughout the season as a whole was the offside, 35 of the Premier League this season. What's going wrong there?

Are you counting the penalty or not?

The penalty is counted, yes. We discuss the penalty as well?

Yes, something to improve. I said it, there are many areas that we need to improve. That's one, that's related sometimes to the timing or really the situation, or really the position, where he's lined up and what space he's given you. But certainly it's far too many. It's true that the Villa game obviously he’s putting those stats in a different perspective. I think the sample is quite short to analyse it, but you have a point there.

Can I just ask you about the Havertz penalty decision? Do you think it should have been a penalty?

I haven’t watched it back and I didn't watch it back so I don't have to lie to you guys. So I was surprised because when they sent the referee to the monitor, Benji was telling me it's a clear penalty he's put in. So I heard now that they decided not to because of the starting position of Kai that he was offside. So I don't know what the interpretation is. I'm sure they will make that clear to understand it.

It seems confusing with the few of us here trying to work out if him being offside matters or if it doesn't. Just you as a manager, do you still understand all the rules or do you get to the point where you find it so confusing what is a penalty and what's not?

I don't know. I need to understand the decision, what is overruling what in terms of the decision making and after that I can give you an answer. What's your opinion?

I think he's offside but the law seems to say that doesn't matter.

So he's not offside then?

(shrugs)

Is Declan OK?

Yeah, he's fine.

This was a win by a single goal last season. I think there were 15 in the Premier League. Half of your games since the first league game have now been won by a single goal. What is it that's going to take it to go to the twos and threes? I know you want that but what's it going to take to take the next step?

To be more efficient. We are one against one against the keeper. That's happened twice today. There is a penalty there, there is another situation inside the box where the ball is bouncing. So many shots that have been deflected, blocked. We need to find ways to be more efficient, sometimes even more pragmatic.

Sometimes my feeling is that we are trying to score a perfect goal against these low blocks. We need to be much more chaotic than that, and that's it. And open, I think, score much earlier because obviously that's going to change the course of the game.

I know you spoke about Noni recently and the work that he's done. Is he an example of someone who, by getting rhythm, by playing a lot of minutes, by playing regularly a lot of 90 minutes, is finding himself in a way that is maybe even better than you or he or anyone imagined he could bring? He's brought so much leading an attack that's missed a lot of players lately. He's taken so much responsibility.

Yes, but that's the second part of the story. The first one is you need to earn the right to be able to do that. And Noni did and he didn't do it in the first part of the season, that's why he wasn't playing.

But the way he reacted to that I think is a great example for the rest of the squad, which is I want to do more. He went away, decided to train, he came back and he was a different Noni. You could sense that he meant business and he wasn't going to accept that situation.

And since then I think he's been incredible. So now you are in that position, now you need to hold it and improve it and he can still do that. So let's see what he does in this break.

Did you see that he seemed quite cross with himself when he was coming off, shaking his head, maybe upset he didn't get that goal? And is that a sign that he wants more?

Yes, because you know he has three clear chances to score today again. Okay, he contributed and impacted in the action that is the goal leading to Martin. But there are still margins, there are moments that we can decide better, we can be more efficient and then the margin will be bigger.

Just talking about offsides, Kai Havertz has been off 15 times this season, the most in the league. How much of that is Kai going too fast to the ball compared to players that are releasing the ball quick enough? And if that gets rectified?

It's a combination. It's all about timing. So there is a signal on the ball, and you need to time it around that. If that's a second too late or half a second too late, that's all fine.

And if that gets rectified, surely Kai's goal tally could then, in your eyes, go higher?

You and me can go in the office, work on that and then it's a simple answer.

Mikel, you talked positively about City quite a bit yesterday in the press conference. Did anything about them surprise you today?

We have doubts with the line-up, first of all, whether they're playing 5-4-1 or 5-3-2. It was the first time that they've done it and certain location of players. The way they presented and who they are, it was exactly what we expected. I give them pride because I really believe that they fully deserve that. They are really well organised, they are really aggressive when they have to be, they are really pressing on the block. And you have this sense that any time the ball is in the box, they can score a goal.

Bruno Guimaraes’ name was chanted as he walked around the stadium. He led the game today in distance covered and total touches as well as some key recoveries. Is this complete phase-to-phase action and control what you had envisioned from him when you recruited him in the summer?

Still much better. He's hitting levels now that are serious, but we can still take that player to another level. That's my conviction. I told him in the dressing room he's very good. He had a massive impact. He owned a lot of moments throughout the game, but there is still a lot to come and still in those relationships inside between the three midfielders.