After a hard fought 1 nil victory over Chelsea, Mikel Arteta went in on the media, accusing them of misconstruing what he said before the game.
The boss made a comment implying that some players have not played their heart out during the season, but ultimately blamed himself for not getting the best from some of the players.
He also touched on our first win at Stamford Bridge since 2011 and the tactical aspect of the game.
On the win proving Arsenal aren’t totally broken…
Nothing is broken. Inside nothing is broken. I don’t know how hard they are going to try from the outside but inside, no. They’ve tried to put things on me that I never said. You can see the spirit of the team from the first minute, it doesn’t matter if we’re playing to be seventh, eighth or ninth, you can see that. You can never doubt their efforts and how much they try.
On what he thinks has been ‘put on him’…
Something that I didn’t say. I said that if I don’t get 120% from each player, it’s my fault and my responsibility. It wasn’t said like this in the press and I am so annoyed with that.
On his players giving him everything…
My players, I will defend in front of anybody for the rest of the time that I am here. Because they deserve that and they earn it, every single day.
On being misconstrued…
Yes. They [the players] don’t deserve that. They give me everything, every single day. Everybody who is here does that. Because if they don’t or I’m not here or the player is not here because the only thing I demand until the last day is that they give me everything that they have. That’s all. After, the ability, playing better, draws, win, lose, but that is unquestionable and non-negotiable. 100 per cent.
On why Arsenal have fallen short this season if it’s not effort and application…
Because there are many more things because there is competition and this is the level you play against.
On the performance…
I’m really happy with a lot of things that we’ve done, the attitude and the desire to win that we showed. When we had to dig in, which you have to against this team because they are a fantastic team, we did it. We put everything that we had to try to get the best possible result.
On the press conference issue being more on his mind than beating Chelsea…
Well, they are not going to break that. They can try but they are not going to break that. I know the chemistry we have, not only with the players but with our staff, all the coaching staff and with the board. They can’t touch that. And if they try to touch that, it can be with opinions but not saying things that I never said. That’s not on. I’m not taking that. It’s the first time that I’ve had to make my point.
On the win being big for him…
It’s a big win for the club, the players and for our fans because I know how much a London derby means. It’s been 10 years since we won in this ground so it tells you how hard it is.
On the result showing Arsenal are moving in the right direction…
It shows that we found a way today to win.
On pressing for the goal…
Yes, it’s the way we play. It’s in our DNA, it’s our philosophy to always try to do that. If an opponent is good enough to beat that press then we have to defend deep but, of course, we thought we had opportunities to press the right way and they could make mistakes and we forced them, we got lucky and we scored.
On playing three at the back…
We did it just for one reason, to try to play better and make it harder for them and for us to be better in the game.
On whether European qualification is realistic…
It’s not in our hands. The only thing that is realistic for us is to win the next game.
On what difference qualifying for Europe would make…
I don’t know. We’re not in Europe at the moment but we know this club, that’s the demands.
On how tough this week has been…
It’s been a really tough season because we faced something unprecedented from outside the world of this football club but we put all our passion, our energy, our knowledge and our togetherness to get through any moment, any obstacles and try to be as good as we can.
