Arsenal face north London rivals Tottenham on Sunday as they attempt to get their Premier League title bid back on track
22:30, 21 Feb 2026
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta
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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta
Mikel Arteta has told any Arsenal player not ready to be part of “the noise” to go do something else ahead of the North London Derby.
In a strong message before his side’s pivotal Premier League clash on Sunday afternoon, the Gunners manager acknowledged the growing discourse and scrutiny following the draw with Wolves.
Igor Tudor will have been plotting a third successive blow to Arsenal’s title hopes as the new interim head coach of Tottenham Hotspur prepares for his first game in charge.
Since his appointment, many have begun to question whether Arteta’s side will now go on to win the league, or, as in recent seasons, be pipped to the post by Manchester City.
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“We have to do what we have to do,” he said when asked about the midweek stalemate putting power back in their title rival’s hands.
“I don’t think it is going to change for anybody. At the end, you have to win the next match, and if you do that, you are going to be in a much stronger position, and that is the only thing we can control.”
After having won just two of the last seven league games, Arteta has seen his side’s credentials come under fire.
Whether it be from fans, former players, or critics further afield, while Man City have operated mainly in the Gunners’ shadow, slowly closing the gap, Arsenal have been exposed to all the talk.
The message from Arteta to his players, however, is simple but blunt: if you cannot stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.
“You ask them the question: ‘Do you want to be part of the noise? Or not?” Arteta asked rhetorically. “If not, go and do something else. Be part of a different club, or do you want to be Arsenal?
“And everybody has been demanding for 10 years, 15 years, that we need to go back there (fighting for the title), and now we are there, and now what? You don’t want noise?’
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“Noise is part of it, and the bullets are part of that, and we try to deal with them in the right way and achieve what we are looking for.”
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