Mikel Arteta brings Arsenal stars to earth after victories over Man City and Liverpool as he demands consistency: “He is not good enough to do it for a week”
- Mikel Arteta played down the excitement after Arsenal beat Man City and Liverpool
- As a result, the Gunners have reserved their place in the FA Cup final.
- Arteta is looking at the bigger picture and the ‘marathon’ ahead for this side
Mikel Arteta has warned his Arsenal players that they have accomplished nothing by beating Liverpool and Manchester City in the space of four days because success is achieved over the course of a season.
The Gunners toppled the Premier League champions last Wednesday before continuing to win over Pep Guardiola’s team to reach the FA Cup final at Wembley.
The 2-0 victory over City, in particular, was hailed as an example of how Arteta has improved Arsenal since taking office in December.
Mikel Arteta warned his Arsenal players that they have accomplished nothing by beating Liverpool and Manchester City, but now they must build towards a more consistent future.
But on Monday he said: ‘Obviously, this is a marathon, it is a long-term thing that has to be played and has to be done constantly for 10 months.
“It’s not good enough to do it for a week, so we haven’t done anything, we’ve only won two games that give us a huge advantage in the league and the feeling that if we’re all doing the best we can, we can beat any team, but now we have to be consistent and do it every three days. “
Arsenal’s opening goal against City on Saturday came after they built from goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez within their own area.
The Gunners flirted with danger before taking the ball across the field for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to score.
When asked if the risky tactics on his side made him nervous, Arteta said: ‘No. I get nervous when we kick the ball a lot. The faster it goes there, the faster it comes back. I prefer to do it with the correct structure, the correct time and the use of the correct spaces. It’s something we have to do more often. ‘
Arteta grinned from ear to ear after the Gunners threw City out of the FA Cup
Despite recent results, Arsenal are heading into Tuesday night’s matchup with Aston Villa sitting 10th at the table, knowing that their weak European football hopes will be decided in the next two games.
“I wanted to get to this point with options and clearly we have options,” said Arteta, whose team is five points behind Tottenham, who is sixth.
“It is not in our hands right now and we knew it was going to be difficult, but we have to try and try to win both games and then wait and see what happens.” If we do that, I think we will have a good chance.
Defender Shkodran Mustafi will be evaluated after suffering a hamstring injury against City. Eddie Nketiah and Cedric are available again, however, after the respective suspension and ineligibility.
Days before, Arsenal came from behind to beat Premier League champion Liverpool at home.
Arteta also revealed that he had not discussed a possible return to North London with Santi Cazorla later, who will join Barcelona legend Xavi in Al Sadd in Qatar.
But Arteta said: ‘On the role of the coach and the future, we will see what happens. Right now, he’s just finished (at Villarreal), so let him enjoy that moment and we’ll see what happens in the future. ”
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