Mikel Arteta says a win against West Ham will keep alive Arsenal’s faint hopes of qualifying for next season’s Champions League.
The Gunners may be languishing in 10th place in the Premier League table but with the gap to fourth place Chelsea now ‘only’ eight points, there’s still a chance we could nip ahead of other misfiring rivals.
That next week’s opponents Manchester City are staring down the barrel of a ban from Europe next season makes things all the more intriguing.
It. Is. The. Hope. That. Kills. You.
Anyway, for the time being, sensible chap that he is, Mikel Arteta is urging the club to take things one game at a time.
“Beat West Ham on Saturday and we are closer,” the Spaniard told his weekly press conference.
“That’s all I am thinking because a few weeks ago it looked impossible and if we beat West Ham it will look more likely. So that’s the only aim.
“If game-by-game we go and start grabbing three points and three points and three points, and then we’ll have a chance in the last three or four games of the season.”
Saturday’s clash with the Hammers will see Arteta go head-to-head with former boss David Moyes.
The steely-eyed Scot coached our man during several sort-of-successful years at Everton and has since been the top dog at Manchester United, Real Sociedad and Sunderland.
Arteta is looking forward to the occasion. “The thing that I admire the person, who he is, his values, how he deals with people, who he is, how he treats people, how he treated the players when they were there.
“How well he deals with creating a culture around a club, a chemistry between the players and a belief that we could do something as a team. And then he works really hard.
“He is extremely demanding, he’s got character, Scottish character that is impulsive and I really enjoyed my time playing under him.
“I think he had a lot, obviously the Manchester United situation, I think what happened there was very harsh on him. I know how he is as a manager and my opinion hasn’t changed at all.”
Man, a lot of pressure on Arteta all of a sudden — facing his former manager, then facing his former boss and mentor and friend, and the team he helped coach for a few years. Yikes. I hope the players in the dressing room can find that something extra and put forth two outstanding performances and defend the good work and good faith of their coach in the coming week.
If ya can grab 33 points please. Thanks, I’m not fussy 🙂
Maybe the whole squad could grab three points, not just the starting XI? ?
Moyes……..he sold his soul to the devil and found out how life is under a deep pile of poo.
Ferguson really messed up his soul
He knows the deal. There is no luxury for a transitionary period. We need to grab at least 5th. BC it will complicate the summer tremendously and we are in danger of slipping down further. Some people cling on to the remote idea we will wholesale change out in the summer, spend what it needs with new players (of quality) Arteta knows better. We will risk on players of lesser known quality, some may come through for us ala Martinelli but this is a lower percentage game which is why generally you pay for what you get and the top… Read more »
Unai finished 5th last season and delivered a Europa final, that apparently was abject failure…… It wasn’t…. The changes to our squad, and restructuring of our squad after 22 years of Arsene, was always a 3-4year project. This mess has been years in the making. You can get good players for reasonable prices, but you usually have to develop them for a couple of years for them to reach their potential. I’d prefer we shopped in the PL this summer, and continued to develop some of our academy players. Arteta said there was no talks to sign Ceballos, I really… Read more »
How’s that beer Santa… oh yes, I see – half empty us usual.
Not just grab em, win em. The Arteta way! #Comeonyougunners!
How about we play well for 90 first? Not just 45 minutes, and the wins will come.
where can I get the arseblog Visa?
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I would prefer if we managed to keep Dani, for a reasonable price of course. Wasn’t there some talk that he isn’t getting along with Zidane or Zidane doesn’t like to use him? If that is true, it should increase our chances. On the other hand, in case Real recall him it doesn’t necessarily mean that he plays for them, they might also sell him for more money to another club, if their coach really doesn’t fancy having him around. And yeah, we need to create a scenario where Dani actually wants to stay with us, regardless of what real… Read more »
It’s all that he can say TBH I wish real questions were asked of Raul and the board after what the dithering with Unai was about. Here’s to a wengeresque run