Arsenal were edged out – once again – by Manchester City in the title race but Mikel Arteta pointed to how the stats say they should’ve been Premier League champions
Mikel Arteta claims Arsenal should be Premier League champions – and has called on his team to use their pain to drive them onto greater heights.
The Gunners were, for the second year running, involved in a title battle with Manchester City and ultimately got edged out on the last day. City were faultless in the final stretch, winning all their games, whilst a loss at home to Aston Villa ended up costing the North Londoners.
Arteta was left to bemoan how his mentor, Pep Guardiola, had got the better of him again despite another stellar year from the Emirates outfit. The Gunners won as many games are City, had a better defence and matched them on goal difference, but missed out by two points.
Their 89 point haul was one of their highest ever in the Premier League and Arteta believes it is only the “small margins” that are costing his side, which he accepts are the difference between landing trophies and finishing empty handed.
He told ESPN: “When you are analytical and you gather all the stats over the past 11 months in the Premier League we should have won it. That’s what the stats say, the reality is we didn’t, so that is something that is there that we haven’t managed as well as Man City or the clubs in the past.
“I think we understand where those margins are. We’ve been really consistent in the last 24 months in terms of performance and the elite levels we want to hit, but those margins are super small.
“One thing is to get to that 90 percent we actually want and actually that 10 percent, 5 percent, 1 per cent is what defines success and winning major trophies. Now we have to continue doing all the right things we are doing and just nail those small margins that are going to win the tournaments. We need that pain and that hunger to achieve what we want to achieve.”
Arsenal have been rejuvenated under Arteta, who also led them to their first Champions League quarter-final in more than a decade last term. Despite that they endured another trophyless season as they continued to invest in their squad, breaking their club-record transfer to land Declan Rice.
City have enjoyed a dominant period and have just celebrated their fourth Premier League title on the trot – a feat never before achieved. They will be favourites to retain their crown as Arsenal look to win the top flight for the first time since their ‘Invincible’ year two decades ago.
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