Mikel Arteta has reacted to Arsenal surrendering the Premier League title to Manchester City after a 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest on Saturday, May 20.
Though Arsenal sat on top of the Premier League table for the majority of the season, their defeat on Saturday handed over the title to Manchester City even with a game against Chelsea today, May 21.
Speaking to Sky Sports after loss of the title, Arsenal’s coach Arteta averred that they would take some time off to heal instead of looking for excuses or placing the guilt on someone.
He said;
“We should not look for excuses and to put the guilt on someone. We should have been better as a team.
“First of all congratulations to Manchester City for winning the championship but it is a sad day for us. Now we have to face the reality, today we gave a goal away and we were not good enough to break them down.
“We could play for three hours and we would not have done it. It is my responsibility and I take it. When it is beautiful great, when it isn’t, that is sport. The number of goals we have given to the opponents recently has cost us but we can’t put the guilt on someone.
“We should have been better as a team and in the last few weeks we have fallen short. This is football. It is a very sad day, we have been working for 11 months with that aim and have been on top for so many days. We have competed but we didn’t have enough. Now we must heal. It is very painful. I have to find a way to lift the players and we have a tough week ahead of us.”
Arteta is in his third full season as Arsenal’s manager and has by far produced his best campaign to date this season. His Gunners side won 16 of their first 19 games and have recorded memorable wins over the likes of Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United and neighbours Tottenham, whom they’ve done the double over.
