Mikel Arteta insists ‘gap is still big’ between Arsenal and title contenders
Mikel Arteta believes there is still a significant gap between Arsenal and the Premier League’s title contenders but says the club are finally shaking off years of “feeling sorry for ourselves”.
Arsenal host Liverpool on Wednesday night in a match of critical importance to the battles for first and fourth. Should Arteta’s side earn a sixth straight win it would put them four points clear of Manchester United, who are fifth, with two games in hand; they would also move to within five points of Chelsea having played a game fewer, but Arteta cautioned that they remain well short of the standards he wants to set.
“Still far,” he said. “We have to make things quicker, sharper. We can be more adaptable, we can be much more unpredictable, we can have much more flexibility and we can be much more consistent throughout games to maintain that level.
“I think we are much closer than we were, and probably the closest we have been in terms of what we are looking for. But I focus on that gap, and that gap is still big.”
It is a mark of Arsenal’s rapid strides, though, that there would not be too many eyebrows raised if they overcame Liverpool. They outplayed Manchester City for long periods on New Year’s Day and the buzz around the Emirates, an intimidating venue for visiting sides this season and one where
Arsenal have dropped only 10 points, is palpable. Arteta explained that they have had to change the downtrodden demeanour that had dogged the club in recent years, and stop repeating old mistakes.
“I hate that feeling, of feeling sorry for ourselves,” he said. “Of saying: ‘Oh, this is happening to us again.’ A lot of things happen, and when they happen we have to find the reason why it happens.
“If we don’t want it happening again, we have to do something about it because if we keep doing the same thing then I expect the same – or worse – to happen, because we already have a history. We have less margin to suffer, because we have already been there.
“We have to change that dynamic completely, look at what we can become and how we are going to do it. If we put all the effort and energy there, the rest will take care of itself.”
Arteta said a win over Liverpool would provide “another click and another boost in confidence” for his team. “Beating Liverpool with the way they are playing today is extremely difficult and we are aware of that,” he continued. “But if we get to the game with the belief and understanding of doing what we can do, the game is there for the taking.”
Takehiro Tomiyasu has an outside chance of returning from his recurring calf injury, but Arteta struck a cautious note on the right-back’s involvement. “We have been trying to push him, but with the handbrake a little bit because we need to be careful as we don’t want to get another injury with him,” he said. “We don’t know [if Wednesday is too soon]. Let’s see how he trains.”