Arsenal have suffered a recent run of poor results, and criticism has been aimed at manager Mikel Arteta.
The Gunners have lost three of their last four away games, and are falling further behind in the Premier League title race.
Despite the incredible job he has done in helping rebuild Arsenal over the last five years, Arteta has faced criticism in recent weeks, with Arsenal’s attacking recruitment and tactics questioned.
Arteta has now hit back at his critics, and defiantly defended himself and his players, following back-to-back away defeats to Newcastle and Inter Milan this week.
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Mikel Arteta hits back at Arsenal criticism
Speaking in his press conference ahead of Arsenal’s trip to face Chelsea, Arteta pointed out that his side have had the hardest schedule, with other factors affecting them.
“We don’t need a reset. We need, in one particular aspect, to go from 95 to 100 and I’m not going to tell you what that is,” Arteta stated.
“I haven’t seen a team being that superior to other teams, but in the end the fact is you have to continue to win and find ways and details to keep the right to win the games.”
When asked about Arsenal’s recent away record, he was defiant in his response.
“There are other things. The level of opposition that we have played because nobody has played the away games that we’ve played this season, and certainly not in the condition of playing half of those games with 10 men – nobody in the league,” he added.
“We have had to adapt a lot of things this season because we have a lot of injuries and a lot of situations especially in the backline and midfield, so that’s something that the team is learning as well and adapting to.
“A lot of times it has worked really well, other times, something is missing because it’s going to be different, but the team definitely has the capacity to do that.”
Arsenal have had some bad luck this season, but they will still need to improve results if they are to remain in the title race.
Arsenal’s bad luck this season
Performances and results in recent weeks have been far from ideal, but Arteta has been hit by a lot of bad luck.
Losing Martin Odegaard to injury was the tip of the iceberg, but there were problems all over the squad. Mikel Merino missed the first few months after joining in the summer, whilst his side also had to deal with three red cards early on.
Arsenal know that they cannot use these as excuses if results continue to falter, but Arteta is clearly confident that he can turn his side’s form around once his squad settles a bit with regard to absences.
Fans may not have the same level of patience though, and a negative result against Chelsea could raise the pressure on Arsenal and Arteta even further.
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