Mikel Arteta has revealed the deep hurt within the Arsenal dressing room as they face one of the biggest crisis of Arsene Wenger’s reign.
Arteta promised there will also be a “big reaction” against West Brom after major soul-searching within the squad for the reasons behind
Arsenal’s worst start to a Premier League campaign.
Arsenal midfielder Arteta, 30, says the players have asked for extra training and spent extra time at the club's Hertfordshire HQ analysing video of their games - and admits they owe the fans.
But Arteta says the disappointment and hurt etched on the players’ faces proves that Arsenal have got the right mentality and determination to turn their campaign around.
Arteta said: “People are hurting, people are upset with themselves, the players are angry. I think that’s a good thing. It’s not like players couldn’t care less, they know what they need to do.
“At Arsenal you have a group of players who want to give 100 per cent and that makes things so much easier. I always see that in the dressing room. Always.
“You look at the players’ faces, the disappointment, the hurt. They want to put it right. You’ve got players here demanding and wanting to do extra training. It’s in themselves to work harder to put it right.
“We have been watching videos over and over again of games, looking at what we’ve done wrong. That comes from everyone, absolutely everyone.
“It’s not just about this week. It’s been before that.
"Last Saturday was probably the lowest point, but we hadn’t won the last games before and that was disappointing because we’d been on a good unbeaten run but hadn’t been winning games.
“You have to look at yourself and then you have to look at the rest of the players. The most important thing is a player’s attitude, how you go about your job and the players here take responsibility.
“We need to win games, it doesn’t matter how. The players want to put it right. I’m expecting a big reaction. I know we will get that from the players.
As Arteta admits, that defeat to Swansea last weekend saw the players hit an all-time low.
They were booed off at the final whistle and manager Wenger agreed a fear factor after poor home results has affected his players.
Arteta admits it has all hit him hard personally.
By his own admission, the Spaniard is going through a tough time and Wenger rested him and several of his team-mates to give them a break rather than go to Athens for this week’s Champions League match at Olympiacos -
which ended in another defeat.
But Arteta says tiredness does not even come into it as an excuse and that Arsenal will finish their season strongly.
His own targets remain high, although he believes the league is tougher than ever.
“Does it affect me? Ask my missus! I get very frustrated. I love my job, I want to do well and so when it goes badly it affects your personality,” said Arteta.
“People say it’s fatigue. It’s not fatigue.
"I looked at my stats against Swansea and I want more than any other game this season. It’s not just tiredness but it can be mental fatigue, stress and everyone is tired.
“We’ve got everything here to be a really, really successful. We all know we can do better and when you feel that you get very frustrated.
“You can always add quality to any team. They can make a difference, bring in more spark and I’m sure they will do that if they feel they need to.
“That’s not for us to decide but we feel confident the club will do what is right and necessary.
“I’ve noticed in the last three years that the league has increased so much. You get crazy results every week. Physically every team is ready and every game is tough.
“The gap has closed between the top and the bottom. The other teams have improved.
"You look at
the Reading game with Manchester United - crazy!
“It happens with us. Manchester City. Spurs. No-one is winning five or six in a row and that show you hard it is.
“If you analyse last year, in February, we played Spurs. We were 12 points behind them. We finished above them.
“There’s still six months to go, so you have to keep believing. It’s all about how you react. If you want to show you are a big player at a big player club then you have to react. That’s what we need now.
“I came here because I wanted to play in the Champions League, to be challenging the big clubs and for the big trophies.
“If you see the structure of the club then it’s unbelievable. Every player here will tell you the same thing. We have to make the gap smaller between us and the top.
“There’s a gap, but it’s up to us to make it smaller.
"For example, we go to Bradford on Tuesday [in the Capital One Cup] - if we win that, we’re in the semi finals.
"We’re in the Champions League knock-out stage.
“We’re five points behind fourth place. That’s not far.
"First place is now very, very difficult, if I’m being honest. But there’s a lot still there for us - the FA Cup is there, the Capital One Cup, the Champions League.
“We have to be ready now and give our best in every game whether it’s good or bad.
"That’s the attitude you have to have if you want to be at the top clubs.”
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Originally Posted by Wiltord's Winter Wonderland
