Mikel Arteta was delighted with the personality his players showed to “stand firm” as Arsenal ground out a 2-0 win at Wolves.
After defeats to Aston Villa and Bayern Munich, the Spaniard knew his side’s season hung in the balance but they dug deep, scoring late in each half, to take the points that return them to the top of the table.
“I’m really happy,” the manager told Sky Sports. Obviously, the game tests you. You want to be at the top, you want to be fighting for big things then you have to show that resilience.
“And when a competition touches your ego and questions who we are as a team, the best way to do it is on the pitch, to talk on the pitch, the way we’ve done. The way we performed in the game, we totally deserved to win.”
Asked what pleased him about the performance, he continued: “The desire to stand firm, make yourself big and have an impact for the team. And this is what we discussed. And now is the time to prove who we are as a team.
“You want to make another step forward as a team as a club, you need to live those weeks and you have to live with whatever the outcome is, because if you want to be at the top there’s only one way [to go], down. And you have to live with that. I think the players were really good today.”
The Gunners peppered Wolves’ goal with efforts before and after Leandro Trossard broke the deadlock on 45 minutes, but they had to wait very late to put the game to bed when Martin Odegaard netted from a tight angle.
In between, Arteta’s defence only allowed the home side one serious opportunity, when David Raya was forced to push a Joao Gomes shot onto the post.
“Apart from that ball that we lost in the back line and they went through, we haven’t conceded anything,” noted Arteta.
“It’s a lot of clean sheets already in a row in the Premier League, which is really difficult and you need that platform to win the games in this league.”
He added: “It’s a team [Wolves] that has cost big teams points, and we have come here and I think we deserve to win the game.”
While it remains Manchester City’s title to lose, Arsenal’s temporary return to the top of the table, and the opportunity to consolidate their advantage on Tuesday against Chelsea, certainly feels like a timely confidence boost.
“That’s where we want to be,” said Arteta. “We lost it last week at home against Aston Villa. We didn’t decide to lose that game but we lost it. This is football when you look at the run that we’ve been in since January, it’s unbelievable and we’re still not top of the league. We are today for a few hours and let’s see what happens.
“We have to beat Chelsea now and they are in good form. I was watching their game today against City [in the FA Cup semi-final] and they are really good side.
I know Maurizio [Pochettino] really well and we have to earn it big time in front of our crowd again on Tuesday and give it a real go.”
Two tough matches coming up. Let’s keep going and supporting hard!
There certainly are, let’s hope we can raise our levels. Chelsea maybe finding some mojo just at the wrong time from our point of view. They looked pretty good today other than whole ‘putting the ball in the net’ part.
Shhh, nobody tell them about Dubai…
Seriously we have enough to beat them, but it would be a good time to figure out how to get some clean sheets at home!
Interesting comments in the post match analysis on sky. Jamie redknapp just said that no matter what happens the rest of the season, arsenal will win the league next season.
He has summed up how I feel. I’d have been distraught in seasons past in regards to the last week, but I’ve barely let it affect me. Sure it stung, but it doesn’t feel like the normal excuse of inexperience, it feels like the proverb of each mistake is a lesson learned
Let’s Rock!
TBF they had some injuries today but that’s a testament to our clubs staff who have left us pretty healthy this season. Imo some of our players lack that elite athletic build which we see in other teams and it puts us in some sticky situations. this might be why we don’t see some of these players come on often. This summer id like to see us get rid of those players and put in some top level athletes who can fulfil squad position and of course a star striker.
I think it’s at least the third time Arteta has mentioned “ego” since the Bayern match, in three separate interviews. Feel like I only kind of half understand what he means with that…
I think he is pointing that this team is sometimes still mentally fragile when things dont go well. „hurt ego“ Or i can be completely wrong 😀
Ok yeah that makes sense, there are different ways to use that word that I’ve heard more often but the one you suggest makes most sense in these contexts. Merci
Thought our fans were great today. If we can keep up that level of support in next few games we’ve got a chance. COYG.
Arteta’s attitude this past week has been great, in stark contrast to the loser brat mindset of many fans.
There’s no way City are winning 18/18 points imo. No way. So we just have to keep pushing.
I love our team and all they have done already, but based on history, imo they will win 18/18, and we will lose a couple of games.