It’s got to be... PERFECT
‘We’re Arsenal. We must win EVERY trophy’ says Arteta
MIKEL ARTETA wants to build “the perfect machine” at Arsenal – but insists he doesn’t need to turn his team into a land of the giants.
The Gunners, top of the charts for 247 days this season, lost control of the title race when they were terrorised by lethal Erling Haaland and steamrollered by Manchester City last week. But Arteta hopes his side’s fortunes will turn tonight when victory against Chelsea – gilded, hopeless and eight games without a win – would send them back to the summit for at least 24 hours. Arsenal were not just outclassed in their 4-1 defeat at the Etihad, they looked physically smaller. They simply couldn’t live with Haaland, Rodri, Ruben Dias, John Stones, Manuel Akanji and Kyle Walker.
Arteta said: “Centimetre by centimetre on the day, yes (they were bigger), but it takes time to build the perfect team.
“You don’t do it in one, two or three years. That was seven years’ worth of process and we are trying to do something different, but you cannot copy and paste.
“At the Emirates, we played the same way and we could have beaten them.
“In the end, we didn’t. Why? Because when they raised that level a little more, boom, they took the game in individual moments.
“That’s what we have to recognise and not accept.”
Arsenal’s golden era under Arsene Wenger was built on the power of Patrick Vieira, Emmanuel Petit, Sol Campbell and Thierry Henry, while Dennis Bergkamp was no shrinking violet either.
But when ‘Le Professeur’ rebuilt his ‘Invincibles’ team around the likes of Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas, he sacrificed an element of physicality for finesse and the trophies dried up.
Asked if the big guns needed a few bouncers tocope with the Premier League’s hulks, Arteta said: “You think you might go in that direction.
“But playing with Gael Clichy, David Silva, Bernardo Silva, Kun Aguero, Sterling, City collected 100 points.
“Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, Pedro – six titles (at Barcelona). Incredible players. In the right moment they step up.
“They love what they do and they create the right chemistry.
“You have them and they are all two metres tall? Even better. Are they good enough technically? Are they sharp enough? Can they turn?
“The perfect machine, that’s what we all want. Give me 24 of those. We are all looking for the perfect squad and hopefully we can find it.”
Amid the disappointment of losing an eight-point lead in the title race, Arsenal’s qualification for the Champions League, which is now guaranteed after a seven-year absence, has flown under the radar.
The Gunners boss says it is a measure of how far they have come, adding: “We are back in the Champions League and everyone is still unsatisfied.
“But this is what we need to move forward as a club and a team. We are Arsenal, we have to be here to win every single trophy.
“We still have the nicest part of the season to play with five games to go. I’d pay a lot of money next season to be in this position, believe me.”