Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has insisted that 'bottlers' is not a part of his vocabulary. He believes the draw to Wolverhampton was a result of how they played, and they need to accept it.
Speaking to the media ahead of the North London derby against Tottenham, Arteta said he wants to focus on the next match rather than dwell on the dropped points. He pointed out that they still control their destiny and said (via The Guardian):
“It’s not part of my vocabulary and I don’t see it like this because I don’t think anybody wants to do that as an intention. I wouldn’t use that word, but that’s me. That’s individual opinion, perspective. You have to respect that. That’s what I said after in the press conference."
"You lose two points against Wolves in the manner that the game played out, you have to take it on the chin. What I’m very interested in is the next one, what we are made of, what we love about this and how we write our own destiny from here.”
When asked about the fan reaction and what his message was to those panicking, Arteta said that he understood the reaction. He wants to see the draw as a way of getting back to their best and said (via club website):
"The immediate reaction is tough. You put so much in, you look at the first half and actually what happened in the game, I was post-match [talking] about the standards that we showed, it was much better than expected but it’s still not enough to the standards that we required. It's very difficult to understand, so it is a shock in the system, but they’ve been incredibly good with that."
Arsenal will remain two points clear at the top of the table, should Manchester City win their game in hand.
Arsenal face Tottenham in North London Derby
Mikel Arteta was quizzed whether the North London Derby was the best way for Arsenal to bounce back and the manager insisted that the opponent was not on his mind. He claimed that they should just think about the three points and nothing more and said (via club website):
"It’s the one we have after and it’s the one we cannot wait to play. If we could play today, I think we’d all love to play today, to get that feeling that we have in our tummies and use it in the right way and we have to show that on Sunday."
Arsenal have drawn their last two matches after beating Sunderland 3-0 at the Emirates.