Arteta: We were desperate to go back to the top
MIKEL ARTETA revealed Arsenal are determined to prove their title credentials and were fired up at Brentford by losing top spot 24 hours earlier.
Wins for Manchester City and Tottenham saw Arsenal fall to third but they responded emphatically with a convincing 3-0 win at Brentford to reclaim pole position. Arteta is not shying away from talk of Arsenal being among the teams in contention to win the league. He said: ‘You can ask me every day. Today we are top of the league, I am so happy. ‘On Saturday I was so annoyed because we lost it and we used that to want to get back there and show that we want to be there. ‘That is what we are going to do — push to be the best we can be. That is the aim. The table won’t lie after 38 games normally.’
Goals from William Saliba, Gabriel Jesus and Fabio Vieira, on his full Premier League debut, earned Arsenal their revenge after they were humbled at Brentford on the opening day last season. ‘A lot of people described last season here as a bad day, an embarrassing day. I looked at it as a good character-building day,’ Arteta added.
‘You want to become a different team, you have to learn from those moments and you have to go through those moments. Then days like today happen and everyone is really happy in the dressing room with the way we played. We are enjoying our football and it is another step.’ Meanwhile, Thomas Frank reiterated his commitment to Brentford after being linked with Leicester, where Brendan Rodgers is under growing scrutiny, having also been mentioned as a potential successor to Graham Potter at Brighton before the Seagulls swooped for Roberto de Zerbi. Frank said: ‘Very simple answer. I’m here at Brentford, very happy.’ Asked if the Leicester link was a distraction for him or his squad, Frank said: ‘I can’t speak for the players, but I’m reading very little of these rumours. ‘I’ve been told to be a little aware of it if I get questions and of course it’s nice to be linked with it because it means we’ve done something well here. That’s positive.’