Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Art: Gunners a joke? I agree..
MIKEL ARTETA has admitted Arsenal “fully deserved” the scathing criticism heaped on them from Sky pundit Gary Neville. Manchester United legend Neville and ex-liverpool defender Jamie Carragher were brutal in their assessment of the Gunners’ defeat to Liverpool last weekend, which leaves Arteta’s whole season hingeing on the Europa League. Neville claimed there was a “mafia” of forward players against the manager, a “disconnect” between them and Arteta, and branded other players a “joke” as they had stopped playing for him. Arteta insisted that his players would have to give their answer on the pitch, but offered no excuses after the dismal surrender against Liverpool, which effectively ended any realistic hope of getting into Europe next season by their Premier League position.
The Gunners boss said: “I think we have to respect every opinion and when there is criticism coming after the way we played against Liverpool, we have to take it on the chin because it’s fully deserved for the way that we played. “It’s time to talk on the pitch and show what we can do. After the performance against Liverpool, we have to be mute and we have to perform.
“It’s just about how we take the criticism. It’s not good to get the criticism to feel guilty because that guilt is going to be changed into fear. “It’s about feeling responsible – and that is the key word for me.
“You have to be responsible every day for what you do on that pitch, for the club we represent.
“It’s the only way we can do it because it’s about winning matches and being competitive in every competition we are involved in and winning trophies. That’s what we’re here for.”
Top scorer and captain Pierre-emerick Aubameyang has been at the forefront of criticism as he has struggled badly this season and was poor again last weekend. Arsenal legend Emmanuel Petit even likened the club to a retirement home for one last pay day for ageing players. But Arteta refused to pin it on individuals and also accepted his share of the blame.
“I think the whole team and myself have to put in better performances than we did against Liverpool,” he said. Arteta also warned they face dangerous opponents as Slavia Prague have knocked out Rangers and Leicester and are runaway leaders in the Czech league where they have not lost all season. He said: “We have a really difficult opponent.”
Meanwhile, Kieran Tierney is set to miss the rest of Arsenal’s season – and could also be ruled out of the Euros. Gunners left-back Tierney (left) suffered a knee ligament injury against Liverpool on Saturday which could leave him sidelined for up to six weeks.
That leaves the Scotland defender in a race against time to make the Euros squad.