Following Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest – a result that confirms Manchester City as champions – Mikel Arteta faced the Sky Sports cameras.
Here’s what he had to say…
On how he reflects on the season…
First of all, congratulations to City for winning the championship and obviously a really sad day for us after everything that we’ve done in the season. Now we have to face the reality and today we gave a goal away, a huge chance away as well that we gave them and we weren’t good enough to break them down. We could have played here for three hours and had this feeling that we didn’t have enough to do that. So, face it, it’s my responsibility and I have to take it.
On what his team didn’t have enough today…
Probably it’s an accumulation of various factors. But that’s it, we have to come here and do better than thwat we’ve done and assess it. You have to face the reality when it’s beautiful, great, and when it’s not that beautiful, this is a sport and you have to stand for it. And I’m responsible to do that.
On what has gone wrong in the last few weeks…
The amount of goals that we have conceded, the amount of goals that we have given to the opponent.
On why that has started happening…
I don’t know and we should not look for excuses or start to look for putting the guilt on someone. It’s not about that. We should have been better as a team and the last few weeks we fell short.
On having regrets that his side couldn’t push City to the end…
For sure, because that’s what we wanted to do today and we wanted to do it last Sunday, but this is football and the opponent plays and they’ve done today enough, just a little bit to score a goal. And then they defended really well and we were unable to break them down.
On what pain he’s feeling now…
Very intense, very sad day because we’ve been working for 11 months with that aim, you know, and being on top for so many days and building that enthusiasm, that belief and that quality that is necessary to compete against Manchester City and we’ve done that but at the end we didn’t have enough for many factors.
On the next step…
Heal, heal the next few days. It is very painful, I’m extremely sad, I have to find a way to lift the players and we have a difficult week ahead of us and we have a huge responsibility. We play in front of our fans that have been incredible all season and they deserve a really good match.
On how long it will take to heal…
This is a sport and sometimes it’s a defeat, sometimes it’s a relationship that is broken, it’s a lot of factors. We have to live with that and today is difficult and we have to face the difficulty and find a way to learn from it and be better.
On needing to ‘nail the summer’…
No, we have to nail this week first and what we have to do this week and show a very different performance in front of our people.
you are not at fault, this club is not destined for greatness.
you did your best, feel proud.
“this club” as in Spurs?
This club is very much destined to greatness, anything less is unacceptable. The only club that was invincible in an entire season plus a good 10 games in the following season. Sorry but City will not achieve that.
Save yourself, Mikel, before it’s too late!
Lift the players? They are multimillionaires. Lift the fans.
Multimillionaires have feelings, too! At least some of them.
Billionaires? That’s another story.
If we have a VERY GOOD summer transfer window & start fast again, there is a chance we might finish in the champions league places next season. Others will no way be as bad as they were this season, man city will again be too rich/boring to surpass.
And they say the Scottish league is predictable…
I can imagine Man United and Newcastle being a potential problem if they do things smartly. But what exactly are you seeing in the rest of the usual ‘top 6’ (bar *maybe* liverpool), to suggest they’ll turn it on again next year and progress up the league table? This has been a pathetic showing from the team this past , and we’re hurting. But this season has taught us that we’re a long way ahead of certain other ‘big teams’ in terms of our project vs theirs. And if we do have the transfer window we need and make a… Read more »
It’s time to drop the drill sergeant attitude and be a bit more flexible. Non-negotiables are good to have but if it’s causing players like ESR and KT to be sidelined and sold because they don’t exactly match your particular vision then it’s going to be very difficult. Modeling a club after Man City is unrealistic, we do not have the resources they do nor the criminal background to get away with it.
He’s just so rigid both in his man-management and tactics. Like be flexible. Give fringe players chances to show what they can do. Be flexible in your tactics sometimes to accommodate different players’ strengths/weaknesses. This is football, not physics
He is still a four year novice learning on the job. He is just as inexperienced as the players.
His hair’s too rigid too
Kt would have excelled in the team that had Giroud in it.
I’ve been saying it for a long time. Arsenal are the best team in the league to create chances for the opposition.
It’s neen going on for years and it’s deeply rooted so let’s hope Arteta works it out of our mentality.
We have a great season soon behind us and this team, and the talent it has, are still a couple of seasons away from their best.
The future are looking bright.
I’ve been saying this since he became our coach, even when we were top of the league and looked invincible; Arteta is a terrible man-manager. He is so extremely rigid with how he wants to play and who he wants to play. He refuses to integrate fringe players into the squad, insisting on playing the exact same players. So when a starter gets injured or is out of form, their replacement is not nearly in as good of a shape. What annoys me even more are the fans who refuse to understand that players can sometimes be out of form,… Read more »
Spot on
How dare you criticize Arteta on Arseblog, that is sacrilegious.
And the Europa League not being a frigging distraction FFS
Ma is going to be another Wenger with his possession and intricate passing
Teams have wised up and defend in massed nos.Thats why the gunners could not score despite all the possession.
With due respect to MA,he must have plan b and plan c
Plan B – Get a better defence.
Plan C – Get a striker who is clinical.
I don’t get some of this stuff.
Jesus and Trossard have been poor, Saka tired,.
That’s your front line🤷🏻♀️
Martinelli got injured
The most painful thing about this is that Gary Neville was spot on about Arsenal lacking the spine to win it.
There are no leaders in that team – the one person you expect to lead (the captain) was completely invisible today as he was last week against Brighton and against City.
No one will remember Arsenal pushing for the title – they will just remember them blowing an 8 point lead and probably finishing tan points behind City.
That’s the truth of it…
He’s never spot on, he just happened to have his wish come through this time. That’s all. If punditry was based on points he’d be sacked as unceremoniously as when he managed Valencia. The man is a complete twat.
I suppose what I’m trying to say is
Is there just no belief in ESR/Eddie/Nelson?
What does that mean about our backup players for next season.
You know?
Scary
For the last few games, I’ve been thinking that we get run over physically by sheer strength and muscle. Y’know the good old British way that leads to the ‘Arsenal don’t like it up ‘em’ syndrome. Not mentioning any names inparticular, but many of our lads aren’t the toughnight club bouncer type that many ofout opponents seem to have in abundance. I love elegant ant and creative football, but there’s a lot of sluggers amongst the other teams that we just can’t go toe to toe with. If the Light brigade doesn’t work, you’ve got to have some heavy artillery… Read more »
Did you watch the Newcastle game?
Sorry, agree that the tactics were awful today but the players need to take responsibility on the pitch. Not one player took charge on the pitch and that is the biggest worry for me. Such a shame its ended like this.
Remember those happy flowers? Nah, me neither 😭
Don’t congratulate cheaters, mikel. If they’re not playing by the rules they don’t deserve the plaudits. In fact, you should be using your platform and bringing it up to the media at every opportunity so people talk about it more openly and perhaps encourage the league to act.
Leicester managed to do the job to the end with a thin squad. I remember we were out of Europe for 2 seasons. I stand to be corrected. And yes, the second season we finished 8th. Again. Mistakes again and again and again. There’s a trend. At some point it has to stop. I am so glad for how far Mikel has taken us but he needs to be sacked at the end of next season if there’s no single piece of silverware. Otherwise we’ll be trusting the process for the next 10 years. Genius but he has shown incompetence… Read more »
Don’t forget he got an FA Cup. Take it easy, Bro. We collapsed, that much is obvious – but we live to fight another day. Both the manager and players are still learning/have learned a lot this year.
I guess what is so painful to us fans is how closed we pushed City but to collapse at the tail end of the season. If we had got CL football without fighting for the title I don’t think it would have been this painful. It’s like Moses beholding the promise land and not entering. COYG!!!
Nelson should have been given a few starts after the Bournemouth winner he looked amazing before the goal and has obviously given up now as he won’t sign after that treatment and Smith Rowe as well I can’t believe viera is ahead of him, Jesus also not the same since his injury to me arteta doesn’t change things around enough and has no plan B.
Get a bigger striker.
Such a shame to finish the season the way we did but coming second to this City team is no shameful thing. Next season will be tougher I think as Chelsea & Liverpool under performed so will want to bounce back, you’ve got Utd and Newcastle who will get stronger as well as City buying who they want. Villa, Brighton, Brentford? Gonna be tough. I think one thing that has stood us apart from the other clubs is out efficiency in the transfer market. We’ll obviously get stronger in depth but might be worth a punt on some young talent… Read more »
It will be a mistake to let ESR go…i predict he will be a ballon d’or contender in the future…i rate him so highly…his best position is a 10….he needs to play as a 10 for him to shine with his qualities and not on the wing…give that young man a chance Mikel…this is another Gnabry situation dont mess this up for Gunners