Mikel Arteta admits he harbours concerns about whether he’ll be given the financial backing he needs to strengthen his Arsenal squad this summer but he insists the club is moving in the right direction after a plucky victory against champions Liverpool.
Alex Lacazette cancelled out Sadio Mane’s opener before Reiss Nelson took advantage of a second defensive howler by the visitors to net what turned out to be the winning goal. After Sunday’s defeat in the North London derby, the victory provides a shot in the atm ahead of Saturdays’ FA Cup semi-final with Manchester City.
Three points at the Emirates this evening also ensures we head into the final week of the Premier League season fighting for a Europa League spot on two fronts.
Here’s what Arteta made of the current situation when he faced Sky Sports after the 2-1 win.
On the result being very welcome…
Absolutely. Just in terms of energy and happiness in the dressing room and to put a defeat [against Sp*rs] away before a semi-final, obviously, it’s a good medicine.
On tonight’s performance being the maximum he could have hoped for…
To beat this team, you know how many good things you have to have. You have to have moments in the game when you just take your chances, that’s what we did, you have to defend in many moments the way we did tonight and you need a bit of luck, today we had all of that.
On what he liked about the performance…
The belief. I was worried after we went down 1-0 about how we were going to react because they are such a team with their pressing and the way they play that they nullify you in many moments. We were able to pick one moment and then we believed again. Before I think they would have gone down and today, they reacted; we needed to go for it, we know how important this game is for us and here is the reward.
On feeling vindicated by rotating his squad…
If you win, nobody will talk about that. If you lose, you are a disaster. It’s what it is in this profession, unfortunately. I had to play the players who deserved to play and were in the best conditions for the game.
On which route into Europe is the more likely…
I have no idea. I didn’t have any idea before the game and I’m in the same position right now. We’ll go for both of them, give our maximum, there are just a few games so we’ll keep going.
On the job he has on his hands at Arsenal…
Massive. You only need to look at the difference between the two teams today. The gap is enormous. The gap in many areas we cannot improve it in two months. But the gap between the accountability, the energy, the commitment, the fight of the two team is now equal. Before it wasn’t like this. I’m very proud of that. The rest will take some time. But at least that, we’ve got it now. My message to the players is with that we can create something.
On whether he has a bigger job rebuilding Arsenal than Wenger did on his arrival…
I think the context is different. I think the competition right now in the country is much harder than what it was before. Arsene did some incredible things, he brought a new philosophy, new ideas to the country and he was very successful. I have done nothing yet. I have everything to do. We will need support, we will need belief and we need to go in the direction, it doesn’t matter what happens.
On whether he’ll have money to spend…
I don’t know.
On whether a lack of money is concerning…
It’s a big concern. You know, you have to see how they build those squads, there’s no magic. You need to improve the squad with quality, quality players and you need bigger squads to compete in this competition. That’s the challenge.
If only Arteta was hired a year ago
Arteta exactly knew what was needed today to win the game against a team like Liverpool. Im still appalled that some Arsenal are moaning the win cause we played like 20th place team. Well what the fuck did u expect? This was such a good recovery. The gulf is there with the champions and Man City but with the rest I think we are in a much better shape. If we didnt drop those 5 points against a top 4 side and a small team like spuds we would b well in contention for a CL spot. This season we… Read more »
If we went into next season without europe, it would’ve been a boon in disguise, but due to the covid financial crises and uncertainty of having fan’s attendance revenue it may turn out to bane in disguise.
We might desperately need that european competition money, knowing how the kroenke’s want to make the club a self sustaining financial machine. Only time will tell if we have a competitive board to help mitigate financial losses. Otherwise our decline may become more prevalent than it has in previous years.
The best medication in football is victory.
I can’t believe the board interviewed Arteta and Emery and during that conversation they went for Emery, it absolutely blows my mind
we’d have emery now
LOVE his respect for wenger days after his mentor pep childishly took a swipe at him (wrongfully and stupidly)
What did Pep say? Didn’t follow news.
He sad the Messiah Wenger and Sir Alex spent more thqn anyone else to win ….. he is deluded
I believe Pep’s comment was in general about Arsenal.
he specifically named wenger
How can it even be in general about Arsenal? We were and have never been a spending club buying titles??
He really says it how it is! Doesn’t mince his words at all
What a guy. We finally have a manager with a fucking backbone.
I don;t know man, Arsene never, NEVER talked about lack of funds available in such a direct manner.
he wasnt in favour of enormous contracts and talked openly about that. we spent all our money since he left.
And?
I can only assume (feel free to correct me if I’m wrong) what our friend is trying to say is that Arsene didn’t use lack of finances as an excuse. He also didn’t publicly take subtle swipes, unwittingly or otherwise, at the ownership. He always tried to do what was best for the club, whereas there’s a suspicion (only a suspicion) amongst some that Arteta is trying to do what is best for Arteta.
Maybe Arteta does what is best for Arteta, but that could well be the best for Arsenal as well. I don’t think it’s bad when Arsenal staff are looking out for themselves, as long as it doesn’t hurt the club. The opposite example would be to refuse solidarity regarding a pay cut or being clearly unwanted and still sticking around. Such people are only looking out for themselves, which is also their right. Concerning Arsene and funds. I guess Arsene had to be defensive about it, because he was a big supporter of the stadum project and it was clear… Read more »
You must be unaccustomed to this many thumbs up Qwalitee. Just dont mention Mustafi and you’ll be ok see! Haha
Maybe arteta could tell KSE city’s secret on how to maneuver around FFP. Who I’m kidding, FFP is just a shitty excuse for Kroenke being a stingy bastard.
Oh to have an owner who gave a f**k……… Arteta has good potential but he needs financial backing. Not banking on our man across the water with the horrendous moustache and the bad syrup to back him in any way shape or form.
Go on Mikel! Let that toupee wearing moustachioed cunt have it. ?
I.Love.This.Fella.
He’s bang on! If we can show the fight and spirit like some of the other teams we have in this league (thinking about Wolves and how good they have been this year) we can be equal on our day, no doubt. But the next step takes $$$. And not only that a clear strategy. I think we all have our doubts on that one, no?
“The gap between the accountability, the energy, the commitment, the fight of the two team is now equal. Before it wasn’t like this.”
^^^ I’m not trying to turn this into an Ozil debate, but having him in this team today we would have lost. 11 players running for 90+ minutes working hard, and being better than the sum of their parts is great to see.
Lovely to get the win!!! COYG
Its not a debate on Ozil football has simply advanced where things that worked don’t anymore. The days of a 10 that cant work hard are over. One only has to look at De Bruynes work rate on top of his quality. Ozil is not lazy he simply does not have it in him.
I absolutely agree with you
Deluded. He ran the most and had the most ball recoveries in the win over United, same kind of intensity Vs Chelsea, both comparable games. His defensive and running numbers have been good since Arteta arrived. Stop seeing what you want to be true and start looking at what he actually does. And let’s be honest we were very lucky today. I’m happy obviously but you’d have to be blind to deny that
Ozil consistently covered the most ground (maybe behind Ramsey) but that doesn’t include high intensity sprints.
He also never really tried to press or win the ball back very well in my opinion.
YES he was there running, but it never felt like he was competing to actually win the balls.
Anyway, I personally feel we will be a better team now without him.
That grin before he answers the last question. My man ???
We said we had no money last year then spent 72 million on Pepe. I think what he actually meant was “mind your own fucking business!”
Paid on installment in 5 years
I believe Everton may be paying us for Iwobi in installments, too, so that helps even things out.
And? Not sure what your point is? We have money available. Let’s just concentrate on winning the next three games.
Sounds like we really will need a shot in the ATM to invest properly
Hilarious!!!!!!
I got you
Hi Blogs… lovely typo (deliberate or subconscious?) in second paragraph…. ‘provides a shot in the ATM’…. Big hint to Silent Stan to get his cash card out! Cheers…
Arteta is so clear and refreshing. I can’t say how much I’m rooting for him to be successful.
Kroenke’s intentions for Arsenal are about to be laid bare. If he hangs Arteta out to swing in the wind this club is fucked.
We got it wrong moment after Wenger left, we should have hired Arteta ahead of Emery. Klopp turned Liverpool around with the signings of Alison, VVD, Salah and Fabinho. Utd is having a better ending cos of Bruno Fernandes and the calmness Maguire brings to their defence. Chelsea is willing to pay 100k for Oblak, that is a statement of intent. Arsenal needs just 3 signings, Partey, Ubermacano, either of Ceballos or Coutinho. We these 3 signings we can dream of top 4 again. We must let go of sokratis, Ozil, Niles, Chambers, Elneny. Loan out Nketiah, Willock, and Nelson.
I believe in Arteta. I trust him to make the correct decisions, as difficult as some may be. If he is not supported financially at Arsenal he will go on to do great things at another club.
Yep. And who would begrudge him? Not I
Absolutely a real concern. Despite the win, we flatter ourselves if we think this was a performance other than partly Liverpuddle being charitable and in second gear. We need to particularly add in the engine room. Either or Ceballos or Torreira needs to be kept. If the Spaniard leaves, we need to try and convince Torreira to stay. BUT we will still need a capability upgrade bc Torreira is not the complete deal either, certainly whilst more defensively grizzled, not as offensive minded as Ceballos. Willock is an energetic performer but still needs to work on touch and clearly needs… Read more »
I’m not sure I empatise with the misplaced positivity of some people here. For all his ‘innovation” Arteta has still struggled to claw us out of 9th with the same squad as Emery. A bit of reality check. We had big wins under Wenger and Emery as well. BUT the overall position does not lie. And the issue with Arteta being appointed too soon is he lacked the clout that Emery had to pull his weight on Sanlehi .As is Unai was too polite which was his downfall. Arteta currently still lacks sufficient gravitas. Unless he can readily translate his… Read more »
Loans might be again a good option. I wonder if we can have ceballos on loan another season, puported sales price of 44m sounds prohibitive but porb also to potential rivals for his signature. Then there is Guendouzi….he seems extremely unfocus and if we get a good offer, may as well resolve the issue. BUT he has been a very useful player who needs a bit of sheperding and who needs a bit of patience. A solution for us and him if we don’t get a great offer could be to loan him out. Then there are the perpheries not… Read more »
Imagine if our owner invested the money that the club has made him and desperately needs right now
The issue is not just money but recruitment. With our agent based recruitment strategy, I’m not sure that just throwing money at the problem is the answer.
You are right, and Pepe is the proof. Money is not just the answer. We have to bring in the right players that will suit Arteta and his style, be proud to play for us, and give 100%. We have to stop buying dead wood players.
It’s ironic the way we won reminded me so much of the way we used to/ still sometimes lose- having the ball, shooting, then mustafi-ing and luizing the game.
But im happy today. We won! Imagine if we hadnt dropped 2 pts against leicester, drew tott, won brighton, etc. Ok time to stop.
If kronke won’t spend we are doomed for mid table each season.
I think we are set at full backs and have pretty good players going forward, young and veterans. We all know what we need. A dominate centerback, a dominant holding mid and an attacking midfielder who can pass the ball. It’s not physics or rocket science. It’s economics, salary and transfer fees.
I hear a lot of Gooners demanding that Kroenke spends his own money on building our squad, rather than have us be the self-sufficient club that we’ve been so proud of being all these years. Just to be clear, having slagged off Chelsea and Man City for buying trophies and ruining football, are we all ok with buying success ourselves? Join them if we can’t beat them?
I think the move to this has been brought about by changes to the club. I could hack that we acted that way before, as we were still partly fan owned and owned by a group of people with genuine ties to the club. We felt different to the others, and perhaps that meant we operated differently, but for me there was a pride in that. Now we’ve no longer got that but we also don’t have the financial clout either. Its the worst of both worlds. I’d happily revert back to before, but I think perhaps it’s simply a… Read more »
I can 100 % identify with that statement. Also the CAS verdict on Citeh changed my mind drastically. Before I thought, yeah, those suggar daddy clubs, operating in a legal grey zone, getting cash infusions by the owner clouded as commercial deals 10x as high as the normal market value of such deal. I don’t really wanna be a part of that system, glad my club isn’t operating in such grey zones. UEFA also slowly but finally cracking down on that, so the model might be outlawed and that is a very good thing. But hey, CAS said “nono, that’s… Read more »
Was are on the right track. ???
We were never convincing with Emeryball even when we went on that run, hindsight is a wonderful thing we went with a proven multi europa winner winning games in a tough Spanish league with little funds, obviously now we should should have given Mik the job, we have many setbacks to endure next season but I feel so positive we are beginning to see grass growing on sunny horizons..
I wish it did give us a shot in the atm – that would really help with transfers during the window ?