Mikel Arteta says he’s unhappy with Arsenal’s performances this season and says that the difference between the Gunners and rest is a cause of great frustration.
The Spaniard believes the gap between us and them isn’t that big, despite the points difference at the top of the table, and suggests that it’s a case that Arsenal are missing a little bit of magic in games to make things better.
Speaking in the Mirror, he said, “The gap is not that big. We have not been battered this season. We’ve not had many occasions where we’ve said, ‘They are much better than Arsenal.’
“Maybe the first half at Man United and for 25 minutes against Bayern Munich in the first half when they looked really comfortable. Apart from that, I haven’t felt like I have had to say, ‘Wow, they are much better than us.’ For me, that’s the most frustrating thing.
“We have a very good team but we are missing that little thing which makes a difference and that’s where we need to find the key.”
The former Everton man also delivered a stinging verdict on the season, saying the club has underperformed given its structure and standing.
“There’s only a few trophies: after the championship, the FA Cup, the Champions League. There are so many clubs, so much competition, it’s tough.
“But with 10 games to go it’s an impossible catch and that, for me, is not acceptable.
“We can’t be in that position, because we have the best basic structure I’ve ever seen at a football club, great philosophy, good players, we’ve got financial backing to do whatever we want, unbelievable crowds for the stadium.
“We will never give up. If we do what we have to do, we can finish in the top four.
“Tottenham have some tough games to play and they will drop points. If they win 10 games in a row we will hold our hands up and say, ‘They deserve it.’ If they don’t, that’s when we can take advantage.”
Can’t argue much with that.
we are missing a lot of things
Well they lost the first of them. Time to take advantage of that. Let’s go on a crazy run now and have them shitting themselves all over again.
COYG!
I love Arteta so much and totally agree with him. And I think it’s a waste of talent to use him as a DM this season & to me that’s the most frustrating thing. Ugh.
Spoken like a captain.
Indeed. Vermaelen’s made so many speeches like this throughout the season, but it’s difficult to believe that he really means them. Arteta’s come out and, instead of just saying “it’s not good enough”, he’s said what’s not good enough, why it’s not good enough, and how he thinks we should change it. Plus he’s actually playing pretty well right now, and it seems like he really wants to finish the season well.
Even better he owns up to the things he (and we) don’t know.
How often have we finished a game this season and gone — how the hell didn’t we win that?
We do all the right thing and it just doesn’t happen.
He basically is the captain.
I’d much rather he be captain than Vermaelen. I think the captaincy might well be one of the reasons behind TV5’s bad form, i think he’s heaping pressure on himself. Plus if his form stays the same regardless, not being captain makes it easier to drop him.
We can’t be in that position, because we have the best basic structure I’ve ever seen at a football club, great philosophy, good players, we’ve got financial backing to do whatever we want, unbelievable crowds for the stadium.
‘We want to be better and next season we want to get more points, which means we will have won more games. I think the board know that and, hopefully, this summer we’ll do something about it.’
Hope the manager and the board are listening
We need him as a captain next season and JW as vice captain.
So true, Arteta. And hearing it from a player hurts even more. You can almost get the captain’s feelings on this. There are so many games we did not deserve to drop points in these our seven years of penury. It is true that we also deserve that beat of lucky that the mancunian devils seem to have hidden in their asses. But what I would like is an Arsenal team that goes into a game and try to win always. There are players who seem to lack the heart and desire to put a shift for the team. We… Read more »
Hopefully Arteta will be playing, not watching.
We also have players who lack the quality to win us games as well as those that lack the heart and desire.
I think we would be at our best in the game against Bayern with a midfield of Coq, Lego Man and Tomas with Theo and Santi on the wings. Let Arteta get more involved and have more of an influence on this one. If Jack is of for a longer time then Arteta is his natural replacement.
Dude Rosicky is way way more a replacement for Jack than Arteta!!!
I reckon next season we should move the armband onto Arteta. It seems like it’s been to big a burden for Vermaelen and hopefully without the pressure of it he’ll be able to find his form again
I respect this man alot. He speaks what he knows is! Not what everyone wants to hear. And the part where he says the season we’re having is unacceptable I fully concur. To be that many points behind united is UNACCEPTABLE!
Unacceptable!!
Arteta carries wisdom rivalling Gandalf. Our midfield wizard.
We lose morale this season that makes us cannot win
Poor grammar does not help..
Why is not the man of lego not our captain? Just look at his hair, LOOK at it!
I don’t think it’s a little thing. We got dominated too often even if Arteta doesn’t accept it, our game hasn’t been able to produce enough goals, apart from the anomaly of 2-3 high-scoring games, and our defense is FAR away from a good one.
Early in the season, sure we were a little more dodgy but taking a look at the possession we’ve had in the second half of the season and the ‘chances of chances’ we’ve had this season and we’re better than we look (kinda). The issue or the ‘little thing’ has been here for so long that it’s more familiar than half the players, the inability to finish matches off and the ridiculous concession of stupid goals. I think it’s the major problem, with the spending thing being something of a red herring (comparing Hazard to Gervinho probably shows that we… Read more »
I love the man.
24 points behind the leaders and getting knocked ou of the cups by team’s in lower leagues…..points to a big problem not a little one.
Why do some thumbs down the above post?
What he/she said is the absolute truth and nothing more.
To be 24 points behind Man Utd, with 10 games left (meaning it could be even greater) and 7 points behind Sp*rs is not of Arsenal quality.
The fact that some have thumbed him down for saying it shows how the mediocre mentality has slowly slippied into some of us Gooners.
Sad indeed.
A very fair assessment. He should be captain with Jack as vice. Our main problem is we are not dictating the play. We either start and then stop after 20 mins or we get dominated and finally pick ourselves up in 2nd half. Cazorla was supposed to be the one dishing out the “magic” but unfortunately he is one of those gifted players that doesn’t perform on a consistent basis.
What we’re missing is a whole team of players who care as much as Jack Wilshere, who wear their heart on their sleeve and want to win even if it means getting really stuck in and laying your body on the line. We see it occasionally but nowhere near enough. If it were just one thing we are missing it would be, for me, a centre back who lives and breathes Arsenal and would have no problem captaining the side. I like all our players, just not their collective attitude. They seem to all be too easily put off playing… Read more »
Think its a bit unfair to say that others in the team don’t care as much as Jack. I see very similar passion in the way Jenkinson, Ramsey, Gibbs and even Arteta play. These guys just do not stop trying, and that’s especially true for Jenks and Rambo.
Yep. Fair do’s. Jenkinson and Gibbs are fighters and the other two are definitely tryers.
What we are missing is TR7 in the fucking line up. He has that passion in him that some others do not. For example, when losing to spurs, he tried to motivate the rest….and when the game was over…you could see the dissapointment in him…unlike some who just fucking walked off the pitch nonchalantly….he might be as fit, but he has more heart.
Arteta needs to shove his cannon up somebodys arse to get their attention!!
I like him a lot but I have to say he’s been underperforming since coming back from his injury, he definitely hasn’t been at his top. Think Ramsey has actually been outshining him lately, better ball distribution, better possession, better passing, better tackling and much, much better engine. I mean Rambo is 22 and Arteta is 29 so obviously the last point is the moot I guess, and I do think Ramsey has improved vastly in the new year, but I do also think Arteta’s form has dipped a bit as well. But I agree, he should be captain. I… Read more »