Mikel Arteta watched Tottenham land a plum Champions League draw – and wished Arsenal had not blown it.
As the Gunners were dealt a relatively kind hand, travel-wise, in the Europa League group stage, Arteta claimed he was excited to be back on the Thursday night hamster wheel with PSV Eindhoven, FC Zurich and Norwegian dark horses Bodo/Glimt for company. They may have dodged long-haul trips to deep backward Europe, but he admitted Arsenal could – and should – have been on the lucrative ferris wheel instead of Spurs, reflecting ruefully: “We need to learn the lessons and understand why we're not there.”
Arteta, presiding over the only 100 per cent record in all four divisions ahead of unbeaten Fulham's visit to the Emirates on Saturday, has good reason to be in buoyant mood.
New signings Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko have been a perfect fit, central defender William Saliba has been a revelation and £72million club-record flop Nicolas Pepe has been farmed out on loan to Nice, leaving scope for at least one more incoming transfer before the window closes next week. But Arteta's excitement at the Gunners' renewal of European orbit – they never made it past Dover last season – has been tempered by the consequences of their blow-out in May.
Arsenal were on course for a return to the top four until ruinous back-to-back defeats by Tottenham and Newcastle in the home straight left them fifth. In through-the-keyhole Amazon Prime documentary All Or Nothing: Arsenal, the normally-measured Spaniard let rip at his players after the damaging 2-0 loss at St James' Park, telling them: “Shut your mouth and eat it.”
But Arteta is looking forward to getting his passport stamped again, saying: “We missed it in the last year so much - those nights at the Emirates, the atmosphere, playing against European teams and the preparation is great. And it brings opportunities to players because we can rotate more, everybody is participating.”
Ah, but shouldn't Arsenal have been rubbing shoulders with Barcelona and Bayern Munich, not Bodo in the Arctic Circle?
“We could have been there, and maybe in another year with the same level of performance that we had we should be there,” conceded Arteta. “But we weren't there so we need to learn the lessons, understand why we weren't there and what is the level required, go to the next step and try again. It is only (a less glamorous competition) on paper – the reality is pretty different, and I think there are some good examples around of big teams who have won the competition in the last few years.”
Will Arsenal finish in the top four this season? Have your say in the comments!
Arteta is refusing to shout the odds about Arsenal being genuine title contenders, warning: “We’ve done nothing – we’ve won three games, that's all. We need to beat Fulham right now and in order to do that we’re going to have to be really good - perform at the level we’ve been performing at or even higher.
“You’re not going to hear it (title contenders) from me. It’s the next game, the next training session. We go day-by-day. But It’s a very different problem from this time last year (when Arsenal lost their first three games without scoring) - I prefer this problem, that’s for sure.
“We need to maintain the cohesion of the team, the belief in the team that everybody is able to contribute. I keep the standards high and keep the demands even higher and make sure everybody is at it every single day.”
