Arsenal’s quest for an unprecedented quadruple continues tomorrow in Germany when they face Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League round of 16. It’s the sort of run that inevitably gets supporters dreaming, but talk of winning four trophies isn’t something Mikel Arteta is entertaining.
With a seven-point lead at the top of the Premier League, an eight-game unbeaten run in Europe, progress to the FA Cup quarter-finals and a Carabao Cup final against Manchester City in 12 days, there is plenty to be excited about. Still, the manager is keeping his feet firmly on the ground.
Asked whether the idea of a quadruple had come up in conversation with his players, Arteta said on Tuesday:
“No, I don’t use that phrase, I don’t talk about it, but I don’t know what they talk about when I’m not there.
“We all know the difficulty of every competition. Starting tomorrow, we are changing from competition to competition every three days, and so far we’ve done so well and we need to continue to do that.”
Given nobody in England has ever completed the full set of three domestic honours and a European title, such talk is clearly premature. Arsenal themselves have not won the league since 2004, the League Cup since 1993 and have never lifted the Champions League.
That said, Arteta is clearly intent on pushing his players as far as they can go.
“I live in the present, I prepare for what I expect and what I fill every single day with optimism, putting everything that I have in, and trying to transmit and inspire those players to feel the same way.
“And then this is football. We have to do it. There is so much to do. There is a lot that we have done, but the important part is coming now, and it starts tomorrow.”
Unsurprisingly, the manager returned to his familiar game-by-game mantra when discussing what lies ahead.
“The only thing you can take is game-by-game and try tomorrow to be better than the opposition and earn the right to win. We always talk about that.
“Obviously, we play so many games in different competitions, in the next three games we’re going to play in three different competitions, against completely different opponents. You have to adapt to that.
“You have to, very early in the match, understand what the game is going to require, adapt to it and be better than them.”
When Arteta took over in December 2019, the idea that Arsenal might one day be competing on multiple fronts at this stage of the season felt far-fetched. But year by year, the team has grown in confidence and consistency. Last season’s run to the Champions League semi-finals was the club’s best showing in the competition since 2009.
Reflecting on what he learned from that campaign, which ended against eventual winners PSG, Arteta said:
“You learn about the things that you did well and the reason why you are there, and the things that you can improve. But then every game and every time will be so specific that it’s so difficult to replicate.
“You can have certain memories, but actually you have to apply your learnings in that moment, and that window is very small, so you have to be efficient.
“They \[the players\] certainly have more experience in the competition. When I joined, there was a big part of the team that hadn’t played in this competition. That’s obviously something that is necessary, like in any other competition, and they understand it better. Now we have to perform.”