YOU’VE GOT NO EXCUSES

Now is the time to go for glory says Arteta

MIKEL ARTETA says there will be no excuses when Premier League action returns tomorrow night.

The Arsenal manager was the first top-flight figure to test positive for coronavirus, something which was announced hours after the Gunners’ game at Manchester City had been called off in March.

Now he’s the first manager to give a pre-match press conference as the match is played, behind closed doors, after a 98-day delay.

“You try to adapt and make the most out of it,” he said.

“Don’t try to find any excuses and go for it and enjoy it. I think we have missed football so much we are desperate to get going.

“It’s been a long process. We’ve been through very different stages but now we are really excited, back doing what we want to do.”

Preparing for the restart in just four weeks, when Arteta – a former No.2 to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City – felt he needed six, is just restrictions.

“One of the things I have learned most is how to use different ways to communicate,” Arteta said.

“Using technology is one of them, but from my side it is hard for me to talk to my players and get into them without touching them or seeing them.”

But this new world of social distancing – dashing in and out without away-day overnight stays – might just suit Arsenal.

Their record on their trips to big clubs in the Premier League has been woeful.

Arteta was one of still the an obvious injured member of the playing squad the last time Arsenal won away at any of the traditional ‘Big Six’ sides – a 2-0 victory at the Etihad in January 2015.

Five years and 25 unsuccessful attempts have passed since then.

Yet statistics from the rebooted Bundesliga offer a glimmer of hope for them.

Empty stadiums offer little in the way of home advantage – in fact, behind closed doors, the away team has been more than twice as likely to win as their hosts.

Since the resumption, half of the games have been won by the visitors while in only 12 of the 56 games have the home side triumphed.

It is a phenomenon Arteta has been monitoring closely.

“I watched some aspects which I think you can take advantage of,” the Spaniard said.

“But I think you need to experience it.

“When there is no crowd and you can’t feel the energy, that push and the drive, the game is different.

“The intensity drops a little and the physical state of the players is not what it was three months ago.

“We have to take every game the same way, to go there and win the game. We know every stadium is completely different. I have to focus and try to convince my players to focus on what we have to do.

“We cannot control everything that Manchester City does. It’s impossible. It would drive the players mad to try to do that.

“So I just try to convince them what we can do to beat them.”