Here is every word from Mikel Arteta’s post-match press conference after Arsenal’s clash with Manchester United
19:26, 25 Jan 2026
Mikel Arteta, Manager of Arsenal, faces the media after his side were beaten by Manchester United
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Mikel Arteta, manager of Arsenal, faces the media after his side were beaten by Manchester United(Image: Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
Mikel Arteta faced the media following his Arsenal side’s painful and shocking defeat to Manchester United at a hostile Emirates Stadium. The first time in 121 games that they have conceded three goals in a game, and the first home loss of the campaign.
It was a game that lacked conviction, control and composure, and it was made worse by those around the players. Any misplaced pass or poor touch was met with groans and a lack of belief.
Arteta was asked for his thoughts on the game, the noise around his side and what this result means for the title race.
Here is every word from Arteta’s post-match press conference:
Thoughts on the game?
First of all, congratulations to Man United for the victory. I think we started the game really well, the first half hour we were very dominant, playing the areas that we wanted, scored a goal, had two fantastic chances to score another one. And after that we gave them the goal, which errors are a part of football, very unlikely, unlike us, but we gave them the goal and hope, and that shifted the energy, because from half-time we really struggled especially to keep the ball in the right areas, after regulating the ball what we had to do, and the game became a little bit open and without the dominance of the first half.
And after that in the second half, they had two brilliant goals, some individual quality and magic moments in big games, that's a good example of that, but with the changes, I think we managed to shift the energy, score the second goal, and you could feel that everything changed, and the game was ready to go and win it. In the next action, Noni is one-vs-one is in the box, we don't get anything out of that, it goes to a goal kick, they close the structure, one pass, win the duel and Cunha puts it in the perfect angle to lose all the momentum, all the good energy that we were building up and to go and win the game for them. So, yeah, very, very disappointed obviously, but it's a moment, especially after losing, and the joy and everything that those players are giving us, and me in particular, to take myself responsibility and be very close to them because it's exactly what they deserve.
It seemed quite nervous times in the stadium today. Firstly, did you feel that? And secondly, if so, do you think it affected the players?
I don't know, but we have to understand that we all want to win, and the crowd is trying to be behind the team to make the best decisions and to win the game, and we need to go through that. We know what the players need, and we're going to be playing much better in the next game, like we did two and a half days ago, one of the best and toughest places in Europe to go, like against Inter Milan, so we know that we're below par, especially in certain individual standards, and when that happens, the margin becomes very, very close, and today they made those margins bigger because the individual quality that they have made a difference in the game.
In the first half, Arsenal were in a really commanding position, having gone in front, but then it felt like there were some unusual errors in the game that we're not used to seeing, and it gave United encouragement. What do you put that down to?
Difficult to say. I think the first one probably leads to the second one, and the fact that you want to be more protective probably doesn't help to make those mistakes because there were three or four, to be fair, that were very unusual today in the game, and they are part of football. Sometimes you get punished and sometimes not, and today we got punished, and apart from that we have to give credit to the opponent for what they've done and in the manner that they managed to win the game.
And obviously, you had a great result in the week against Inter, but in the last few weeks, it feels a bit like maybe the team are playing with more comfort, more authority in the other competitions, in the Premier League, finding it a little bit more difficult. Is that something you're observing as well, and what do you put that down to?
Well, it depends. Again, the Liverpool game was very different, the first and the second half, when we got to Forest, you look back at what we conceded: nothing. And the five big chances that we didn't score. But that's a reality as well, and we're playing every three single days.
I think to discriminate between competitions is very difficult for me at least, to put in the performance of players or the collective one, but it's a reality that we haven't won in three games in the Premier League, and I wanted to pick a point on that.
Patrick Vieira was speaking on Sky Sports after the game, he said there's still some questions about the mental strength of the team after that result, what was your reaction?
That's fine. I mean, we accept every opinion, where it comes and where it's coming from, and they will have the right reason to say it. At the end, we have to show the mental strength that we have on the pitch when it comes to a match day.
We were absolutely brilliant in Milan, and today we weren’t that good. I don't know if it was mental, because of how much they played, but because we were poor, especially technically in certain aspects of the game, against a team that when you make those mistakes, they can punish you big time. That was the difference.
There were a few boos at half-time, Mikel, given you are top of the league and top of the Champions League…
That's part of the demands and expectations that we want to win, and that's it. Individually, everybody can react in the manner that they need to.
You spoke about expectations there, but how do you control them so that they don't become overwhelming for your players?
Doing what we have to do, and doing what we've been doing for seven months. Exactly that. And the position that we are in still today, even though we have lost, I think it's the first time sitting here this season at home, and we lost again.
It's part of the journey to winning. If not, nobody will lose football matches. It's how we react to that, and I am very convinced, because I know those players in the dressing them and how much we want it, that we're going to react immediately.
Mikel, I know you've been asked about the boos in the stadium already, but when your four points clear at the top of the table, how does it make you feel knowing you've done what you've done to get so far this season, and that's the reaction?
It doesn't matter; we have to do more, so maybe that's not enough. We have to do more, there's nothing else. We have to do our very best.
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When you do that, you can rest in peace. Today we really certainly tried to do our very best, but we weren't efficient enough against a team that is very well organised, and we got punished because of our own mistakes as well.