Mikel Arteta says the slide when his top Gunners turned to “plop” gives Arsenal hope of reeling in Liverpool’s eight-point lead in the title race.
Kop boss Arne Slot told his players not to get “carried away” after stretching their advantage at Southampton last weekend, citing Arsenal’s surrender of an eight-point gap at the Premier League summit two seasons ago. In return, Arteta warned Liverpool that being front runners for virtually a whole campaign is no guarantee of success - because the Gunners were top for 248 days of the 2022-23 season and still didn’t win the title.
He said: “We’ve been there and to sustain it for 10 months is extremely difficult - everything has to go your way. Just when you think you have it, plop! Everything collapses. Results can change through injuries, decisions and it can happen at any moment. You have to be ready for that but it’s something you can’t always control. All you can control is to do your very best.”
Arteta admits that Arsenal need to be near-perfect if they are to topple Liverpool from their perch, saying: ”If they continue then that's for sure, with the numbers they're producing and the amount of games they're winning.
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“But the focus is on us to maintain the consistency especially and performances that will give us the right to win games and keep the availability in the squad. This is a long run.”
Arteta senses Arsenal have their mojo back after convincing wins against Nottingham Forest and Sporting Lisbon in the last seven days. And with 12 of their next 13 games in all competitions in London, the Gunners have a real opportunity to dish out some capital punishment, starting with today’s trip to West Ham - a fixture they won 6-0 last February.
He said: "It’s crazy that we have that many games so close to us, and less travelling is always better. Winning lifts the energy and our confidence up. We've had two big wins for us and now it's about consistency and building that momentum.
“But I don’t link character to winning. This team showed unbelievable character against Inter and we lost, unbelievable character against Chelsea and we didn’t win despite being the better team. Same players, same intentions. It’s about being more efficient and winning matches - that’s the difference.”
After Jurgen Klopp quit as Liverpool boss six months ago, and Pep Guardiola showing signs of stress during Manchester City’s slump of five straight defeats and throwing away a three-goal lead against Feyenoord in midweek, Arteta expressed sympathy for his fellow coaches, revealing that defeats “drive me mad.”
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Arsenal thrashed Sporting Lisbon 5-1 to make it back-to-back wins
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He said: “I love what I do, I love every minute of it. You are going to lose football matches and have tough periods, and most probably you are going to get sacked! When I did my coaching badges I said, 'I don't know when but I know one day it is going to happen.’
”You are going to suffer in life, whatever you do. In every profession everything is not beautiful. That is something I want to promote to my kids and my family - I have been choosing to do this job so I need to enjoy it. Losing a match, I hate it, absolutely hate it. It drives me mad and I really suffer from it but it is a way to improve and do things differently.
“I feel a lot of sympathy for all my colleagues because I know the job, I know how ruthless this industry is. I know how we get judged just by one thing, which is results. Every defeat is super-painful. You suffer, you try to find the answers to a lot of things that are difficult in the moment.
“You can be upset with the performance, with certain decisions, you can be upset in many ways - especially because you put so many hours of effort and energy into something and you don’t get anything for it.”
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