Mikel Arteta says that Arsenal’s players are hurting over the recent bad form and has insisted they have the desire and ability to respond after a series of disappointing results and performances.
The Gunners vice-captain was speaking to the Mirror and said the players were ‘angry’ with the way things have been going and have been working hard on the training ground to put things right.
“People are hurting, people are upset with themselves, the players are angry. I think that’s a good thing. It’s not like players couldn’t care less, they know what they need to do.
“At Arsenal you have a group of players who want to give 100 per cent and that makes things so much easier. I always see that in the dressing room. Always.
“You look at the players’ faces, the disappointment, the hurt. They want to put it right. You’ve got players here demanding and wanting to do extra training. It’s in themselves to work harder to put it right.
“We have been watching videos over and over again of games, looking at what we’ve done wrong. That comes from everyone, absolutely everyone.”
Despite the obvious problems and frustration, he is determined to look at what the team can still achieve rather than dwell on the recent ‘failures’.
“There’s still six months to go, so you have to keep believing. It’s all about how you react. If you want to show you are a big player at a big player club then you have to react. That’s what we need now.
“We go to Bradford on Tuesday – if we win that, we’re in the semi finals. We’re in the Champions League knock-out stage. We’re five points behind fourth place. That’s not far.
“First place is now very, very difficult, if I’m being honest. But there’s a lot still there for us – the FA Cup is there, the Capital One Cup, the Champions League. We have to be ready now and give our best in every game whether it’s good or bad.
“That’s the attitude you have to have if you want to be at the top clubs
And with three important points on offer tomorrow, Arteta is sure the team will respond.
“The players want to put it right. I’m expecting a big reaction. I know we will get that from the players.”
—
Read the full interview here.
It would be good if the manager could talk like Arteta now and then rather than the standard excuses he comes out with.
Arsene Wenger.
He’s such a good french bloke, Always pampers his players with sweet cushioning words after a below per performance.
From paris with love.
It would also be nice if our captain TV5 would come out with statements like this! Arteta acts more like our Captain.
Arteta is the rightful heir to the throne of Arsenal Captain. He acts it and talks it. Can’t say the same about TV.
I can’t even imagine the things we would’ve achieved had Arteta been signed 3-4 years ago. Not merely because of his technique, which is exceptional, but also because we lacked a leader in midfield. Fabregas always looked like a luxury captain, someone who had got the armband as an anchor to make him stay. Arteta, even at the twilight of his career, has the hunger and desire to do better for a club he joined primarily because he wanted to play in the UCL (i.e. to say that he was not a ‘fan’). I think we really lose something when… Read more »
Say what you will about Arsene, but it really says something about his ability when he is able to convert an attacking midfielder, who sometimes even played on the wing, to a composed, intelligent deep-lying playmaker/defensive midfielder at the age of 29.
That was of course a position that Arteta started his career playing, but he really flourished as an attacker. Now he has retreated to that role and has looked a much better player than he did in his last years at Everton.
Not sure if Wenger can take credit for that as much as LaMasia and the poor general skill level in the English game. He is able to pass, move the ball around efficiently and also to keep the ball when needed due to his skill. The fact that he is a good DM in the PL is that he has those talents, the same ones that make him a good AM as well. We have to wake up to the fact that the English players are not as skillful, they are runners, a bunch of Roger Bannisters on the pitch.… Read more »
Fuck La’Masia.
lol I’m sorry I didn’t realise that all our young British boys are coached wrong? Technical ability and a tactic other than hoofball can be seen in Wilshere, Ramsey, Theo, Ox, Bale, Sterling, to name a few. Lets not stereotype the English game now, it’s been changing over the last 5 years, better late than never. The FA have been consistently shit at developing the England team over the years, and if by some miracle the national team sorts it’s act out and does win a trophy it’ll be down to the clubs the players play for and not the… Read more »
@ Hulk; so you mean like Wilshere, Gibbs, Jenkinson and Chamberlain. Those sort of English players….
Wow, we can name 3-5 players that Wenger has coached totally differently from the rest of England and my point it proven wrong. Look at the facts, the actual best player of the last 10-15 years has been Scholes, could control a game, play it short and move like he was born to play in another country. What does every engalnd manager do, play him out wide so long ball merchants like Beckham, Gerrard and Lampard can be accomodated. Jack is not the normal english player, thankfully, and he only has one season under his belt. Possession is the dirtiest… Read more »
Hurray!! Someone from the club knows we’ve been getting short changed and its up to the players to give a positive vibe to the fans. It’s hard to get excited in the stands watching slow predictable football. Huge respect to Mikel for his honesty, and his genuine desire to do better. More of that wouldn’t go a miss. However having talked the talk they better walk the walk come 3:00pm Saturday.
He’s the real captain
Who? Jack?
I see what you did there
I hope those players play the way their ‘acting’ captain is promoting them against West Brom.
The best thing to happen is if all of their extra training, videos analyzing, and increasing focus are pay off. I’m sure if their character is right, it will make the team stronger than ever before.
can the players please stop talking and start playing
i’m tired of hearing players talking about how they are angry at their performances, how the next game is a 6 pointer,and then go on to give a shitty performance
love and respect arteta a lot, but i think its time the plaayers start doing their talking on the pitch
Start playing with desire. the pride and the honour that comes with wearing the red & white. get us that much needed 3 points 2moro
COYG¡!!!
I´ve had a serious man crush on Arteta for a long time now, but I´m really getting tired of our players beeing Shakespeare in interviews and shit on the pitch.
I want our players to talk about fighting, spirit, determination and all that bollocks AFTER they´ve shown it on the pitch. Lets have a string of wins with fully commited players and then lets hear about their mental strength in the press.
Walk the walk and all that..
Why is he not wearing our armband….
I really dont think GERVINHO even watches the replays of arsenal games. I bet he’s afraid of seeing his own performances.
Arsene should sit him down and force him to
“See that gerv, see that!. You should not have run yourself out of play, you ought to have passed it then and there!”……
Unrelated, but I have to say all this lack of form has had all the tabloids publishing “articles” of all the players the club has missed out on in the past decade, and isn’t that more indicative of the quality of the squad during the Wenger era more than it is “missed opportunities”. Hopefully this campaign can turn around, and mature players like Arteta and Rosicky can influence this squad into maybe an FA Cup run and hopefully a Champions League place.
It’s easy to look back though and be critical, sure we missed out on some players. Are you really sorry we lost out on Ryan Babel? I’m not! Imagine how the other clubs feel after missing out on Henry and Vieira.
Exactly my point, you can’t look back on the Wenger era until these past two years and have many regrets, I mean the quality of football produced by these sides has been nothing short of spectacular.
Or mata or ya ya toure or ibrahimovic etc etc
I do enjoy Artetas words of encouragement, he says great things. But didn’t quite enjoy “We’re five points behind fourth place”. That’s clearly our target this year then. *sigh*
The law of average says that if the players keep saying we owe the fans or the players need to respond then it will happen at some point. Lets hope its Saturday.
Just not a nice place to be when it turns ugly over there.
My concern is that while the players are sat there watching these videos of their errors that there is no one able to tell them how to correct them or what they can do to improve. Wenger is well known for not instructing his players, for giving them the freedom to express themselves and trusting that they will deliver, and Steve Bould was hardly known for his attacking prowess or flair. So who does that leave? Who is going to show/tell Gervinho how to cross a ball? Is Arteta becoming the leader in the dressing room as well as on… Read more »
Would be time to make Arteta our captain, he acts far more as a captain then TV5
[…] 来源：[Areblog News] […]