Mikel Arteta Arsenal
How did you view your team’s performance?
I think it’s clear the better team won the game. They were probably at their best, especially in the first half and we weren’t at our level. The gap then becomes too big. In the first 30 minutes in terms of the basics you have to do against an exceptional team in terms of competing, in terms of winning duels, in terms of understanding what the game required we didn’t do it. We got punished and we could have been punished even more.
Opta have City at 92% to win the league. What are your thoughts?
The stats at the start of the season said we’d finish sixth or seventh and we are where we are with five games to go. Those players deserve a lot of credit to go nine and a half months against this team doing what they have done. There’s still five games to go. Five. I’ve been in this country almost 22 years and I’ve seen a lot of things and I know how much it shifts from game to game. There are not easy games in this league. Let’s see. We have to lift our players tonight. We played against an exceptional team, we know that, but we are an exceptional team as well. Today we didn’t do the basics and understand what we needed to win the game.
Do you think the gap between City and everyone else is that you can only win the league if they have an off year?
I don’t know the answer to that. We’ve been nine and a half months here so… We lost today here, we have to accept that. We lost in a very different way at the Emirates. Today the quality of the performance was very far from what was required.
How do you explain your inability to do the basics?
I prefer to give that to my players. They were better in every department. They were more aggressive, they kept the ball better, they won every single duel. We had them in the corners and then after two passes they were in front of our goal. We conceded on a set play, we conceded on a throw in against us too easily. With everything they deserved to win the game because they were better.
Did you want to change a few things going into the match or stick to plan A?
We wanted to tweak a few things, especially there. But when they are able to execute and score an early goal you have to understand where we’re coming from, you have to be loyal to what has brought us all this way. We’ve done it in the past in different ways and that doesn’t guarantee you anything. It’s time to look in the mirror [at] what we could have done better or differently.
Do you think your team froze?
I don’t think they were scared, but the way we started the game didn’t help at all because we put ourselves in trouble in many situations and we lost all the races and we lost all the first and second balls. When that happens they started to have vertical attacks, open spaces to attack and that created an uncertainty. We could not grab the game the way we wanted and that’s credit to them because they were really good.
Why is that though? Surely this is a game where they would want to do all that?
It’s very easy to say that here. When you have to play against a team, and that team plays at their best that probably I’ve seen, then it’s very difficult to do that.
What’s the lesson from this loss?
First of accept the reality. That’s the best way to move forward. Accept that today they were better than us, that they deserved to win the game, that we never had a chance to win the game and that we have to improve and be better and humble to accept that. You have to do that even thought they were better.
Odegaard said you weren’t at your level post-match. How disappointing is that?
Very. We knew that we were going to need our best as a team and individually. When you come here, individual performances dictate. You need to be at your best and you need all 11 players to do that. Today we were far from them.
You’ve got five games left, do you think you’ll have to win them all to win the league?
I don’t know what is going to be required. For sure we have to lift the players up first because they suffered tonight and it’s a difficult one to swallow. Lift them up tomorrow and we need to do everything that we’ve done so far so well to earn the right to win the next match. That’s where we have to start right now.
5 wins will get you to 90 points. Do you think you’ll need that to win the league?
I think so.
