Arteta comes out swinging: Nobody wants to win more than us
Today at 09:53 AM
Arsenal may have picked up just one point from their last three Premier League games and tasted defeat in the Champions League in midweek, but Mikel Arteta is insistent that his team is on the right path.
After challenging for the title in back-to-back seasons, Arteta’s side have dropped 12 points just 10 games into the 2024/25 Premier League campaign, as many as they had dropped after 16 games last season.
Ahead of Sunday’s trip to Chelsea, though, the manager insisted Arsenal are ready to fight back, even if defeats are taking a toll.
“Obviously when you don’t win, it affects the mood, it affects the energy, but the positive thing is that there is nobody in this room or outside that wants to win more than I do and that these guys in the dressing room want to do,” Arteta told reporters. “It is impossible.
“So that desire, today I had a meeting with them about it and I can sense it straight away. And what I sense as well is a big belief in how good we are as a team.
“Nobody wants to win more than the people at Arsenal: No, I promise you that. And nobody works harder than me to achieve that. All these guys, nobody.
“Talking (more) maybe, yes, but actually working and making sure that this is going to happen, nobody, I guarantee you that.”
It was fighting talk from the manager, who defended the performance in Wednesday’s defeat to Italian champions Inter Milan, which saw Arsenal fail to score for the third time in six games.
“What we did in Milan, watching it back twice, I haven’t seen any team doing that against them, but you need to turn that into a winning football match because at the end it’s the only thing that anybody is going to judge. Not how superior you are to the opponent, you outrun the opponent, you outperform the opponent and in every single way, it’s about did you score a goal, you didn’t, we have a problem. And the problem has to be resolved by scoring more goals than the opponent, that’s it.”
Arsenal were at least boosted by the return of Martin Odegaard, making his first appearance for the club since August, in midweek, and Arteta insisted turning things around is a matter of fine margins.
“No, we don’t need a reset. We need, in one particular aspect, go from 95 to 100. And I’m not going to tell you what that is.”
The manager went on to say that, due to a strengthening of other sides in the league, he does not believe the bar to win the title will be as high this season as it has been in previous campaigns, providing the team with a little more leeway after a shaky start.
“Like Arsenal, lots of other teams have been inconsistent recently, Man City, apart from Liverpool, maybe any team that haven’t been.
“I think everybody’s been consistently struggling with the level that there is in this league. And in general, in Europe, playing every three days at the level.
“Because the temperature is going up another level, the level is going up another level. And to win, win, win and win, if not, I would put my fingers here that nobody’s going to do 100 points this year. But it will require perfection to keep winning.
“Sometimes (in past seasons) the margins you could sense, feel, were bigger in games. They are not at the moment. I haven’t seen a team being that superior to other teams.”
Things change quickly in football and Arsenal have seen Manchester City in particular shift into gear and put together incredible winning runs to clinch titles.
Already seven points behind league leaders Liverpool and five behind Pep Guardiola’s side, Arteta and his players will need to start winning again quickly and win consistently to keep any hopes of another title challenge alive and well.
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