Arsenal have still kept their European hopes alive by beating Chelsea 1-0 in the Premier League on Wednesday night.
The Gunners went into the match as the second favourites so as soon as they got their goal, the away side went into a shell and defended with all their mite. And to be honest, the way Arsenal were playing, they looked nowhere close to a top-six side.
For large parts of the game, it seemed like Chelsea were playing one of the minnows and this ultra-defensive performance from the Arsenal players has come under the scanner. Many pundits and experts think the Arsenal players are just not interested in playing for Mikel Arteta and that their lack to give it their 100% was clearly evident on the pitch.
While the Arsenal players did look devoid of ideas on the pitch, but Mikel Arteta has come out to strongly defend his players while pointing fingers at the media for spreading negativity.
The manager said after the 1-0: “Nothing is broken. Inside, nothing is broken. They [the media] try 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 whether we’re playing seventh, eighth, ninth. You can never doubt their efforts and how much they are trying.
“I said that if I don’t get 120 per cent off each player, it’s my fault and my responsibility, but it wasn’t [portrayed] like that in the press and I am so annoyed with that.
“I will defend my players in front of anybody for the rest of the time that I’m here. They deserve that because they earn it every single day.
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“But it was a great win. It shows how tough it is to come here and win against a fantastic team. I think what Thomas is doing is great. They have so much quality, really good organisation and make it really difficult for you.
“From the beginning, we showed that we were coming here to try to win with the right spirit, with the right attitude, we showed moments of real quality as well. We got the goal and then we had to defend in long periods. To do that, you have to be really committed and resilient. We needed some luck and we had it tonight.”
The Gunners were reluctant to not let their 1-0 lead slip away on the night and in the end, it was just the three points that matter to them at this stage.
A win means Arsenal can still dream of playing European football next season but it’s also true that such poor performances will not take them anywhere up the ladder in the upcoming season.
The North London will first have to ensure European football by any means necessary but once the current season gets over, manager Mikel Arteta will have to sit down and chalk out a proper playing strategy for his side for the 2021-22 season.
