MY GUNNERS ARE SO STRONG
Tomorrow, 8pm
MIKEL ARTETA insists Arsenal have already wiped the slate clean after their north London derby horror show. The Gunners boss was in a particularly defiant mood yesterday – just 48 hours on from that 3-0 thumping at bitter rivals Tottenham.
Rubbishing the idea that his young squad could be mentally broken in the wake of such a humiliation,arteta claimed it is the complete reverse.
Down, of course, but far from out was the message as he revealed Bukayo
Saka and Co are fully recovered – mentally – and determined to put things right at Newcastle tomorrow night.
Asked what he had learnt about his troops since the loss to Spurs left them only a point clear of their neighbours in the top-four race, Arteta rolled off a long list of positives.
The Spaniard said: “How lucky I am to have them! How they stand up to pressure, under any difficulty.
“How much they are looking forward to playing on Monday. How excited they are about the challenge ahead.
“That’s because we all know everything that we’ve been through throughout the season and how we have had to fight to be in this position.
“Obviously, losing like that is always painful. But you learn a lot in these situations as well – probably more than you would with any victory.
“So, it’s good to go through these moments sometimes.”
That may be hard to believe.
One might suspect the Emirates chief is putting on a brave face as the battle for Champions League qualification goes to the wire. But Arteta went on: “We knew that losing was a possibility. Now we have been through it, we have experienced it. Hopefully, that can help us on Monday.
“The players have shown by the way they came into training today, with energy, they want to get on to the next game.
“Two games and two wins needed is a good place to be.”
Arteta was accused of whingeing by Spurs counterpart Antonio Conte after complaining about the red card and penalty decisions that went against his visitors.
Asked for a response to Conte’s order for him to ‘stop moaning and focus on his team’, he said: “That I am fully focused on Newcastle.”
With Rob Holding suspended, Gabriel struggling with a tight hamstring and Benwhite only just returning from injury,arteta has a central defensive crisis for the trip to St James’ Park.
He said: “We’ll know more tomorrow.we want to understand how they are recovering and how they are feeling.”