Arteta urges Arsenal to be more ‘streetwise’ in title race،
LONDON — Mikel Arteta said his team must learn to be “delicate” and “wise” in certain situations following Arsenal's Champions League first-leg defeat to Porto on Wednesday.
Statistics showed the ball was only in play for around 50 minutes of Wednesday's match as Porto's tactics appeared to destabilize Arteta's side, prompting Declan Rice to urge his teammates to show more ” common sense” in the future.
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Asked if his players were capable of being “bad guys” on the pitch, Arteta told a press conference on Friday: “I don't know.” [about being a] nasty but you have to be delicate. You have to be smart, you have to be savvy and you have to try to capitalize on the advantages in every situation, and they know that.
“It’s something that needs to be developed…the best players they have, they have.”
Arsenal have been in superb league form in 2024 – they have scored 21 goals and conceded just two, winning five matches in a row in the process.
A win against Newcastle on Saturday would move Arsenal two points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool, with Jurgen Klopp's side facing Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday.
But Arteta said he believes his side are considered outsiders in the Premier League title race.
“I feel a lot of enthusiasm, especially internally because we have the right combination and we want to continue to be there because we are in the Champions League,” Arteta said.
“We have a fantastic game to play in the Emirates and externally it is probably different because the expectations are much more concentrated in the other two teams. [Liverpool and Manchester City]”.
Arteta was cleared of a Football Association charge in December following comments he made about the officials responsible for Arsenal's 1-0 defeat to Newcastle at St. James' Park in the reverse fixture in november.
The Arsenal manager called VAR's decision to award Newcastle's winning goal a “disgrace” during his post-match press conference, but said on Friday he felt the decisions Referees have improved since he expressed his opinion.
“Well, that’s why we all wanted in the end the decisions to be better,” Arteta said. “I think the latest statistics that came out showed that it was a significant improvement and a lot of decisions were being made, so I hope that will be the case and that we continue on this path.
“I spoke as I felt and I was very honest and I did it in a quite strong way but within the law because I was not charged for it.”
The Arsenal boss also said Thomas Partey was “very close” to returning from injury, while Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko could also be fit enough to be included in the squad against Newcastle.
