Mikel Arteta says he won’t let negativity infect the Arsenal dressing room despite the reaction to his side’s disappointing opening day defeat to Brentford.
In the aftermath of Friday’s trip to west London, everyone from presidents to pundits stuck the knife into the Gunners for both the performance on the night and the state of the squad coming into the new season.
Only later did it transpire that the Gunners were severely depleted by a Covid outbreak and that the club had spoken to the Premier League about the match being postponed.
Given the extraneous circumstances leading up to the defeat, the arrival of a couple of new players and the prospect of playing football at the Emirates in front of a capacity crowd, the boss struck an upbeat note about the club’s prospects.
Facing the media ahead of Sunday’s game with Chelsea, Arteta was asked if he’d had to raise morale in the camp this week.
“Putting things into perspective, we had an incredible 48 hours before that match,” he said.
“It created a big uncertainty and probably an unprecedented Arsenal line up. We tried everything that we had in that game, but it didn’t work out.
“We knew the consequences of that externally, what it was going to mean, but internally the reaction has been incredibly positive.
“It’s one day of Premier League football, we have the whole season ahead of us, and any negativity that’s going to try and surround this football club is going to be out of these walls.”
A second defeat this weekend would certainly ramp up the pressure before a trip to face champions Manchester City, but Arteta maintains that whatever happens, he’s looking at the bigger picture.
“We knew that [we had a difficult schedule] from the beginning. You have to play 38 games against all the teams at the end of the season and it’s the perception, the pressure and again, the negativity.
“I just want people that are constructive around me. I know that people have the intention to bury us and try to criticise us, but we are not interested in that.
“We have a lot of positivity and a lot of energy, new energy that is coming up. My full focus is on that and finding a way to beat Chelsea because we can, because we’ve done it.”
The boss also had a message for the fans. “In moments when there are people and there is certain negativity around the place, you need your fans and your supporters more than ever,” he said.
“They’ve always been with the team and I have no doubt that on Sunday they’re going to be right behind the team. If there is one thing that the team needs, it’s exactly that.
“If they really want to help the team, there’s not going to be a better medicine for them than to feel [the fans] very close with the right energy and supporting them and being behind them and the team is going to try their best.”
He added: “I can’t wait for the game to be there and to have our fans back after 18 months without them at full capacity. This is what we are here to experience those moments and hopefully give them what they deserve.”
This silver tongued devil is the girlfriend who can cheat on you, send you the pictures and still get you salivating for the next time you meet.
I wish I could quit you Mikel.
Its only the second match of the season. Give him a break. Dun slate him like that like the tough bunch of fans we are renowned for.
Its not too late to slay him after seeing the results against Chelsea
I can understand the frustration about the Brentford game, one we were ‘expected’ to win, but I sincerely hope fans put these next two games in perspective. Arteta should not be ‘slayed’ if results against the Champions League and Premier League winners don’t go our way.
There’s a lot of season to go, and while new signings are exciting, they will need some time to settle in, some more than others. The age profile also suggests the club is playing a bit of the long game here. That’s difficult for fans, but ultimately necessary in my opinion.
Anyone expecting to beat Brentford clearly have not watched us the last few years. Should we have beaten them yes, should we expect to beat them no.
I think it’ll all depend on the performance of the team. If there is some steel and grit to the team and if it’s a tight exciting game there will be positives to go to and hope for better games ahead in the season especially considering injuries and illnesses in the team but If we’re hopeless and gutless and concede silly goals and find ourselves with 0-3 record and 0-10 goal difference it’ll be madness with everyone wanting Arteta gone. It’s a tricky situation. Minimize damages and try to take some points will be the goal especially in home games.… Read more »
Exactly. Show some spirit and hopefully some pace on the break and we are a decent shot at picking up some points. Both these teams have dropped a lot of points to lower table opposition. Man City we have to sit deep and hit them on the break, which I hope we can do. Chelsea we should try and take it to them a bit, remain solid, but play a high tempo in possession. If it’s meek and slow in possession we’re going to get trounced and then fans have a right to be frustrated. (both games should also suit… Read more »
I don’t think the frustration stems from Brentford, it was here long before.
I understand that, Torterrier, but I think you can recognize the long-term frustration without holding the next two games as the last straw. Does that make sense?
To be honest Mr. Mayor ! I believe there are enough fans who realize how difficult the next two games are….but I think your missing the real point of our fans frustration it isn’t based on the results it’s based on performance or rather lack of and after 20 months in charge nothing really seems to be changing….hard to have faith with someone who gave a 3 year contract to William and gave him so much match time…hard to have faith with a manager that makes Xhaka captain after five failed years of trying to make him work…he wouldn’t get… Read more »
With a signing like Partey I don’t think it’s fair for us to accuse the club of seeing Xhaka as our key midfield player, and now we’ve added Lokonga. And we were allowing Xhaka to seek a new club. And to be frank, the captain on the pitch is for the team and players on the pitch. It’s not to make us malcontents feel better in the stands. By all accounts Xhaka is hugely respected within the club and team. If he’s determined the right leader for all those young and new players we had to field in a storm… Read more »
Think you’re going to get a lot of downvotes, have seen xhaka get the blame for everything on here bar global warming and the Taliban.
Lets bury the manager before a ball has been kicked in anger shall we.
Don’t want to bury anyone Damo but the bitter reality is we are 20 months into this project now and Brentford completely out thought and out muscled us last weekend. If you feel our level of commitment was acceptable then thats your right…….I would back any manager to the hilt if I thought there was a plan and we could see it every match day with the blood, sweat, and commitment of all the players…..
Yes there is a lot of the season to go but people will rightly be concerned if we have zero points after 3 games. Personally I think we’re a chance to pick up points given we’ve performed well in these games recently. In any case what should not happen is that Arteta be allowed to use the age profile as yet another in his long list of excuses. This should have been done las season rather than pursue Willian, Cedric etc. Europa League has to be the minimum. He needs to address his tactics too. We’re cumbersome and unwatchable at… Read more »
I’d say it depends. We don’t expect to win any of those games, but if he plays with chicken shit tactics after telling the fans we’re going there to win – and if he selects Xhaka as captain again (thus pissing on the fans) I’d say he deserves what’s coming to him.
Then of course, should we win, it’ll all be forgotten.
Football fans – a fickle bunch.
Why the downvotes? you’re exactly right.
I think it’s the Xhaka fanatics down voting him…
Apart from the Burnley games Xhaka has been one of the most consistent performers ni the squad.
People get butthurt over Willian criticism but spew endless bile against Xhaka – a player who when fit, every manager has chosen as one of the first names on the teamsheet.
Re-watched the brentford game last night, xhaka, Tierney, and Smith rowe were our best players. Read the comments from the game and its all xhakas fault and lokonga is the second coming. Doesn’t matter what he does they’ll still complain about him.
I’m not a Xhaka fanatic, nor did I down vote, but rather just a logical person who doesn’t feel the need to be such a drama Queen to say picking Xhaka as captain is “pissing on the fans”. Some fans are so entitled these days that they think they can shout all kinds of obscenities at a player, trash them and their families on social media, then get their panties in a twist when the player fights back with a little f*ck off. Get over it. Don’t dish it if you can’t take it. Would you rather have a cowardly… Read more »
I’m not a Xhaka fanatic but I just downvoted your polarization of Gooners.
I would have been totally fine if Xhaka moved on, but I think anyone who gets their panties in a knot over Xhaka being selected captain deserves the discomfort. Such a non-issue.
I’m not an Arteta basher, but the only positivity around Arsenal at the mo are Covid cases. Let’s all try an change that this weekend.
Well, we just signed Odegaard and I’m pretty positive about that. Plus, we have two of the best young attackers in England, we just signed England’s up-and-coming center-back and goalkeeper, we have the best left-back in the country. Gabriel, Pepe, and Partay have huge potential. And, I see a club really trying to address some of the failures it has made with a big investment in the team. I know last season was torture but let’s give it a few months longer. I dunno, maybe I’m a glass full but I can see what we’re trying to do and I’m… Read more »
Agreed. I’m very excited by the way the squad’s shaping up & this summer’s transfer incomings in general.
I think there is reason for some hope that we finish above 8th, yes.
Despite this, did you know the bookies have us as the third favorite to get relegated this season after Southampton and Crystal Palace?
Goodness me, talk about an overreaction. We were on a much better trajectory throughout the second half of last season, so I assume the odds got slashed based on a single game!
Well that’s obviously just a marketing ploy from the bookies.
Here are great odds on Arsenal going down please bet on them going down the chances are really high and you should bet on them going down because you can make easy money if you bet with us.
Good man djourou, I’ve watched my whole life and this is the first year I haven’t been optimistic. But come Sunday I’ll be watching and hoping, think of the John Terry slip game, there’s always a chance.
He’s right. And the other point is that we are clearly spending big. Very big – considering our income status and the fact that we are losing money, by the last set of Accounts. This in turn suggests that whatever the owners are – or are not – doing, they are allowing Arteta and Edu to make substantial squad improvements, as the latter see it. Doubtless this will not be a popular point. But the departure of the Kroenke’s doesn’t guarantee salvation. Far from it. It could be – much – worse, depending on who came in. And we would… Read more »
We’ve been spending big for years. Spending wisely is what we need to do much better. Lokonga looks like a VERY wise signing. Tavares too, good value in a position of need. White, well he needs to be excellent to be considered a wise transfer. Ramsdale, needs to become a number 1 (hopefully by next season and we can move on Leno) to be a wise transfer. I think Odegaard is a good transfer because he’s a known quantity and did pretty well last year with room to grow and is a good fit. I cannot for the life of… Read more »
We just used an option in Xhaka’s contact to extend it by one year, it’s not that big a deal and will allow us to protect his value for a (hypothetical) post-Covid world.
I’d rather have him sold, but when no one comes with a decent offer, it seems like the sensible thing to do.
And then make him captain is genius 🤓
Xhaka has no value. This summer proved that. What value are we protecting here? 15M would have been a very useful addition IMO and it also would have benefited Arteta as he would have been forced away from his obsession with Xhaka and to do something different. Now he has the comforting knowledge of knowing Xhaka will always be there for him to setup the team around.
You cannot dispute the spending, but at the same time I don’t feel different players would have altered Friday’s result. Brentford were well up for it and our tactics were all wrong for this match.
Arteta doesn’t make his players press and they seem to have abandoned passing out from the back. This leaves us with a slow build up while the opposition regroup.
I would be more excited if it wasn’t for our striker situation. Hopefully Pepe, Saka, ESR can make up for the lack of goals from Laca and Auba.
You have to think a striker must be a mandatory signing by next summer at the latest.
He’s right. Is there’s one thing we know he can do, it’s beating Chelsea!
The Kroenke ownership is the sole generator of negativity at Arsenal. Why don’t you call up Stan and have a chat with him about it? He can tell you all about the years of mediocrity and underachievement and how the fans have been funding the entire club as his asset grows every year. THAT creates negativity. If you want applause, prove yourself and win some trophies.
Not claiming that Arteta’s proven himself yet by any strech but he’s literally helped us win trophies as a player & manager.
I’d suggest you’re doing a fair job of competing with ‘the Kroenke ownership’ with the above comment.
Why the hell are we so negative? One game into the new season and some of us are screaming Mikel out. Why? In the period from Christmas to end of the season we gathered more points than any team other than Man City. We have bought more heavily than our rivals so far this transfer window and strengthened the squad so we should be better than last season. We are attempting to move out a number of players that we all agree don’t fit our playing strategy. In the previous transfer window we got rid of Ozil, Mustafe and Papa.… Read more »
😂
I’m all for supporting the team, but it would be nice to see them making an effort themselves
It’s on his shoulders now considering the backing those above have given him so hoping he can carry the weight of expectation and show at least some progress in restoring the club back to where it should be
The negativity from the fans is matched by the play from the team. A bit more positivity on the field please, then you can bitch about the fans attitude.
Game one was very Arsenal. Hopefully game two will be the same as it will also be very Arsenal to then go and beat Chelsea. The media will be lapping up an Arsenal crisis and lavishly praising Lukaku pregame which will make it even more sweeter!
It was never completely about losing to Brentford. It was about how we played. This Covid excuse will be the first in a long line of excuses that’ll be deployed for this season.
The fans do always get behind the team. What they can’t stand for is a badly run club, with terrible tactics. Arteta, you need to improve quickly or we’ll be happy to see the back of you.
So true. Arteta is world class at deflecting. We’re fans and always want our club to do well.
This team was less than the sum of its parts last season, and that’s on the management. It isn’t negativity, it’s criticism of the feckless horseshoe tactics and Kia korruption.
My beef with Arteta is that he doesn’t acknowledge legitimate criticism which comes off as arrogant and dismissive.
The internship finishes in two more years. Then we can get a proper Manager.
Here’s a view on positivity going into this weekend: no-one who watched last week’s opener can deny the effect that Bees crowd had… both on their team and ours; and with our C-19 disruption, it cannot have made things easy out there on that pitch, never mind their extra 15% adrenalin rush from finally getting onto a PL pitch – it was, in every way, the banana skin of a perfect storm. But, set against that disappointing loss: we have seen clear evidence of a commitment to bolster our squad (a big fear amongst many of us over the off-season);… Read more »
So say we all.
Sadly not – two desperately miserable people don’t seem to agree that
It seems there is no accounting for some people’s depth of blind, irrational negativity.
to me this just reads like more shifting of blame from a manager who was not prepared and has not shown that he can accept criticism
If only our style & fluency were as good as his press conferences…
Don’t say that.
The press conferences are full of bullshit.
I hope the fans get behind the team.
I also hope we don’t play as shit as we did against Brentford.
I don’t think fans have a problem getting behind the team. It’s not arteta’s remit to ask them 2. His energies would b better spent producing arsenalworthy football rather than the horseshoe strategy we have come 2 expect
We trust artets
Partey, white, saka, Tierney, saka, gabriel, laca, martinelli, odegard.. I can look forward to that squad
Absolutely. Maybe we could even get a 3rd Saka in there somehow. Four is probably too much right?
We just need to get Cuthbert Calculus’s duplicating machine back from Rastapopolous.
While i don’t think he is the man for the job i really hope he can turn it around,. Just to shutup the absolute cunts on talksport for one.
Famous last words