Mikel Arteta Arsenal
What’s your reaction to that performance and the title race coming to an end?
Really sad day. A lot of difficult emotions. We lost the game and we lost the championship after 10 and a half months fighting for it and nine and a half months almost on top. We built a lot of enthusiasm and belief that we could go all the way and win it. At the end we fell short First of all, congratulations Man City. They are the champions and they deserve to be champions. They’ve done it for 38 games. We haven’t been able to do that. That’s it. From my side apologise because we have generated that belief that we could do it and at the end the team couldn’t do it. That’s my responsibility.
Can you use this to drive you on for next season?
For sure we will find a way to do that. Today it’s just sadness. You see people who have put so much work, so much belief, so many hours and I’m sad. I’m sad for them because we wanted to find a way and squeeze everything we had from that group and find alternatives to reach certain levels and if we don’t reach those certain levels then try to reach them in other ways. We fell short. This is my job, my responsibility. I have to analyse that and think.
Is it disappointing that you haven’t been able to take it to the final day?
I don’t know. Today we should have played much better. We gave them a goal and we gave them another chance to score another goal if they wanted it and we fell short to break them down. When you come to April and May you need 24 players there, available, fit, playing at their best and ready to go. For many reasons, we haven’t had that. Then there are key moments in the league. Key moments that define. The momentum doesn’t go there and we didn’t have those margins going on our side. I think that’s the reason that we lost it.
Is it possible to match Manchester City?
Yeah but this is my job, this is our job, this is my job and this is what this club deserves. It wasn’t enough. I know we’re not at that level, but we have to find a way. This is not enough. It’s not going to change in three months time. We need to be at that level but we need to find other ways to do it. For example today we needed to play much better. This is my responsibility.
Do you think all dynasties have to come to an end?
That’s why we have to push for that to happen. That’s not gonna happen if we don’t make a lot of right decisions and think smart and have the mentality every day to get to that level.
Will you see this season as progress when you reflect?
There’s no question about that. I’m not questioning that at all, but today is painful. We’re here to win, I want to win, I love winning, I love what everyone does at this club to win. When you don’t get there it’s painful. This is how I feel today. I value a lot what the players have done yes, but when you are there, the next step is you have to win. We fell short.
What were the key moments?
It started with what happened at Anfield in the 90th minute. Then at West Ham if you put it away to make 3-1 everything changes. We have conceded a lot of goals. We have given 16 goals away in those matches. It’s a lot. You cannot sustain that. In this league, you have to be exceptional with everything because there are no margins. That team doesn’t give you any margins. We have extended those margins to much and that’s why we lost the league.
What’s the reason for those goals?
My responsibility.
Why?
Because at the end I’m responsible for the team to score many more goals than the opponent and we haven’t done that.
Saliba getting injured feels like a key moment?
Yeah, we can look at that. But there are other things that we should have done better.
You had 82% possession so why wasn’t there the killer instinct?
Because everything timing-wise, the last touch, the last pass, the last decision, wasn’t accurate enough. You have to congratulate Forest as well for what they’ve done and how they defended. They got the game where they wanted. We gave them that goal and we struggled in many different ways. We tried in many different ways but at the end we didn’t find the quality to break them down.
Do you think you changed too much in the backline?
We had a lot of issues during the week with players that haven’t been able to train. Some could only train half an hour yesterday. We could have done it. I think Thomas played a really good game in that position. But again, of course when you lose, I should have done something different.
