ARTETA’S NUMBERS GAME DOESN’T ADD UP
UNDER-fire Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has bamboozled supporters by turning to maths and statistics in an attempt to explain their poor Premier League form in the last two months.
The Gunners lost 2-1 at Everton on Saturday and sit 15th in the table having not won a league game since beating Manchester United on November 1.
Arteta’s side have taken just two points from their last seven fixtures. And fans were scratching their heads as the Spaniard failed to show his working out ahead of tonight’s Carabao Cup quarter-final against Manchester City.
‘Last year we won the game against Everton with a 25 per cent chance of
You need fighters who are ready to give everything – you don’t want any victims
winning, you win 3-2,’ he said. ‘Last weekend, it was a 67 per cent chance of winning, any Premier League game in history, and a nine per cent chance of losing, and you lose.
‘Three per cent against Burnley and you lose, seven per cent against Spurs and you lose.
‘There is something else apart from that. It is not just the performance on the pitch, it is something else that needs to go our way and at the moment it doesn’t. Saying that, it doesn’t care because you lose and the only thing that cares is that you lose a football match and this is what we hear.’
One thing is for certain, the pressure will mount on Arteta unless he can work out an equation to address results on the pitch. His position is coming under increasing scrutiny and he has received public backing from both chief executive Vinai Venkatesham and technical director Edu in the past ten days.
The Spaniard, a year into the job, has suggested he has no plans to walk and feels he has a squad of players who are willing to fight to address the slump.
‘You have two types of people: fighters and victims,’ he added. ‘You need fighters and you don’t want any victims. Victims bring excuses, victims bring negativity and they start to blame anything that is happening around them or is not going their way.
‘You need people who fight, people who contribute and people who are ready to give everything to the club. From within the club everything I am feeling is just support, encouragement, and total confidence that we will get through this together.
‘Externally I never read what is happening, but obviously a club of this stature deserves the best and when it is not happening, everyone is going to question what is happening. I am the most responsible one in terms of results, so I have to accept that.’