Arsenal have crashed out of the Europa League this week meaning the Gunners will not be playing in Europe next season. And despite the poor show on Thursday, Mikel Arteta has refused to wash his dirty linens in public.
The Gunners went into the second leg vs Villarreal with a 1-2 deficit from the first leg but the Premier League side needed just a single goal to turn things around on Thursday.
Still somehow Arsenal failed to achieve even that as Unai Emery once again outfoxed Mikel Arteta in the tactical game. And when the Arsenal boss was asked about his team’s collapse, he chose to keep a poker face.
“I understand [fans’] concerns because when you are out of the Champions League for five years it is not just a casualty, it’s a trend,” he said, as quoted by ESPN.
“There are facts to support that trend. So, there are things to change, that’s for sure because you no one is going to accept that at this football club. I am not going to accept that and the fans are not going to accept that. So we all have to push together to achieve something very different.
“They are things to analyse more internally, I am sorry. We have done that. There are things that we cannot discuss here.
“I take full responsibility for my part, for sure, since I arrived here what I have tried to do, giving my life, my best ability, investing every drop of energy that I have emotionally to support everything that has been going around with my knowledge, with staff, with all the players that are trying to contribute with all the club to give our best.
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“But so far it has not been enough and this when the question mark comes, why it is not enough? Is it just a thing? Is it the manager? Is it other stuff? What is it? And then this is football. Last night that ball goes in we win 1-0. You are in the final and it is a different world. But today that world doesn’t look very nice.”
Mikel Arteta named a really strong side for the second leg vs Villarreal but all throughout the 90 minutes, his players could manage only two shots on target.
Emery had clearly chalked out a plan to neutralize the Arsenal front line and his players implemented it to the tee. On the other hand, the Arsenal players were running around like headless chickens for most of the game.
The Gunners are on the decline, that’s for sure and after this pathetic result many are even arguing if they can still be called a big side or not.
The Arsenal hierarchy is surely not happy with this result and now we will have to see if Mikel Arteta is backed for one more season or not.
