Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta was delighted with his team’s performance last night, but his mood completely changed when the Sky Sports journalist suggested that something was ‘broken’ inside the squad.
The Gunners picked up an impressive win against Chelsea through a very disciplined performance. We were arguably more organised than we’ve been ever since the start of the season, and that limited the threat from the hosts.
My Revenge On Ben Foster
Instead of being extremely happy in his post-game interview, Arteta decided to have a real go at the media for what they did earlier this week.
The Spaniard was furious with the press for the way they reported his quotes after his pre-match press conference. He accused them of trying to disrupt the unity inside the squad and claimed that their attempts will not be successful irrespective of how hard they try.
Arteta: The media can try, but they will not break us
He told Sky Sports: “Nothing is broken, inside nothing is broken. I don’t know how hard you are going to try from the outside, but from the inside – no. They will try to put things on me that I never said.
“You can see the spirit of the team from the first minute. It doesn’t matter if we’re playing to be seventh, eighth or ninth you can see that and you can never doubt about their efforts and how much they try.”
When asked to elaborate, he said: “(They reported) Something that I didn’t say. I said that if I don’t get 120% from each player, then it’s my fault and my responsibility and it wasn’t like this in the press and I am so annoyed with that.
“My players, I will defend them in front of anybody for the rest of the time that I’m here because they deserve it, because they earn it every single day. They’re not going to break that. They can try, but they’re not going to break that.
“I know the chemistry we have, not only with the players, but with our staff, with all the coaching staff, with our board. They cannot touch that and if they try to touch it, it can be opinions but not saying something that I never said. I’m not taking that. This is the first time I’ve had to make my point.”
Managers usually lose their cool after a bad result, but Arteta’s reaction after an impressive victory shows just how annoyed he was with the press. Based on what we’ve seen on social media so far, it is safe to say that Arsenal fans absolutely loved it.
Here’s how a few Gooners reacted to Arteta’s furious rant:
Read more: Five things we learned as Arsenal beat Chelsea 1-0