Mikel Arteta responds to Arsenal “excuses” after latest collapse hands title to Man City
Arsenal’s title hopes were officially dashed with the defeat at Nottingham Forest as Mikel Arteta grapples with what could have happened after the recent collapse
Mikel Arteta claimed he would “make no excuses” after his Arsenal lost at Nottingham Forest and ceded the Premier League title to Manchester City.
The Gunners were at the top for most of the season but faltered in the final weeks of the season. Their latest defeat means Pep Guardiola’s men can celebrate their league title ahead of Sunday’s game against Chelsea.
Arsenal were expected to be in contention for the top four at the start of the season and the challenges have seen them far surpass their targets. While they used to have a significant lead at the top, they handed the title to City in a string of games where they lost points.
Forest, whose win now means they are safe and ready to play in the top flight next season, scored the winner after 19 minutes thanks to Taiwo Awoniyi without Arsenal being able to react. Arteta, who never fails to praise his young side, told Sky Sports: “We shouldn’t make excuses and we shouldn’t blame anyone. We should have been better as a team.”
He continued to tell the BBC: “First of all, congratulations to Manchester City on winning the league, but it’s a sad day for us. Now we have to face reality, today we conceded a goal away from home and we weren’t good enough for it.” dissect them.
“We could have played three hours and wouldn’t have done it. It’s my responsibility and I take it. If it’s beautiful, it’s great, if not, that’s sport. The number of goals we conceded to the opponents.” The last time has cost us, but we can’t blame anyone.
“We should have been better as a team and in the past few weeks we haven’t been able to. This is football. It’s a very sad day, we’ve been working on this goal for 11 months and we’ve been on top for so many days.” . We competed, but we didn’t have enough. Now we have to heal. It’s very painful. I have to find a way to encourage the players and we have a tough week ahead of us.”
The Spaniard is in his third full season as a coach and has delivered by far his best season yet. His Gunners side won 16 of their first 19 games and have notched up memorable victories against the likes of Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United and neighbors Tottenham, to whom they handed the double.
There were doubts about Emirates’ lack of playing prowess as Arteta largely stuck with the same starting XI for most of the season. That ultimately worked to their disadvantage as injuries and a drop in performance took their toll and they lacked coverage at the Emirates.