Mikel Arteta: ‘If we feel sorry for ourselves, they’re going to punish us’

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Arsenal tactician Mikel Arteta revealed something he told his players before they beat Liverpool 3–1 at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday. The Spaniard included in his comment that he dissuaded them from any form of self-pity.

Arteta led the Gunners against The Merseyside Reds on Sunday while The Reds still held the third position on the Premier League table. Liverpool still number one by 51 points, were five points ahead of both Manchester City and Arsenal.

In the wake of the victory, Arteta spoke to Arsenal.com.

‘It was an incredible game, one that I will remember especially for the way it happened and for the emotions that we felt during the game. I’m going to have a beautiful dinner tonight.’

Before Arsenal’s goals though, The Reds netted in the first half ahead of the Gunners who had played much better.

The coach recalled this while speaking, and revealed he told his team to not fall into self-pity or they would be punished by Liverpool.

‘That was really painful. I could feel the disappointment, I could feel a little bit that they would start to feel sorry for themselves. “It’s not fair that this happened again”. I said, “Guys, if we feel sorry [for ourselves], they’re going to punish us.

‘So turn around, it’s an experience. Okay, we have been able to do that for 45 minutes, we can do it again, and we’re going to suffer in certain stages in the second half, how we’re going to navigate through that to win it.” They were incredible.’

Furthermore, Arteta noticed some things about his squad’s performance during the struggle.

‘It’s a massive win – a beautiful day. We needed a huge performance from the players. I think they delivered that; they’ve put their heart and soul in every ball.

‘They did a lot of very good things to control and dominate this team, and then we needed our people as well at their best. Tonight, I think we’ve gone to a different level of what we’ve shown this season. We demanded that, we tried to produce a video to let them know how important they are and how important they needed to be. And when we do that together, we’re a real force.

‘Thank you so much, because it made the team feel and behave in a way that’s different because the energy that they bring is just amazing.

‘The level that the Liverpool team has, the coaches and the players is amazing. It’s unbelievable what they demand of you in every ball, in every phase of play, in every style of play, they are there. You’re not ready?

‘They are going to punish you. And it’s very demanding physically, but as well the mental energy and focus that you need. I knew that we were going to need them [the supporters], and the players were the same. I think I ran an extra kilometre or two because of these guys out there! Thank you so much.’

This result placed Arsenal in the second position, having earned them 3 more points. Manchester City is currently in the third place.