Arteta: ‘No fear’ of Arsenal’s faltering hunt
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Mikel Arteta has insisted there is “no fear” of Arsenal ending the season without a trophy and declared he is “on fire” at the prospect of winning silverware.
The Gunners’ campaign is faltering at a key moment after losing three of their past four matches in all competitions, including a Carabao Cup final defeat to Manchester City before being dumped out of the FA Cup by Championship side Southampton.
Last weekend’s 2-1 home loss to Bournemouth leaves them just six points ahead of City, who have a game-in-hand and host Arsenal at the Etihad on Sunday in a mouthwatering clash.
Before that, the Gunners face Sporting Lisbon in Wednesday’s Champions League quarterfinal second leg at the Emirates holding a 1-0 advantage from last week’s first game in Lisbon.
And ahead of a potentially defining week in Arsenal’s season, Arteta launched an impassioned rallying cry as he seeks to capitalise on a moment which ranks as the biggest in his six years at the club to date.
Asked what his overriding emotions were as questions grow over Arsenal’s ability to win the Premier League for the first time in 22 years and the Champions League for the first time in their history, Arteta said: “Fire. I am on fire. That’s it. Nothing else. I’m dreaming so much. I’ve done so much to be in this position because I know how this club was.
“I have done so much against everything that I just see beauty, opportunity and I want to get it done for all these people who have been on this journey with us and because they deserve it. They have been unbelievable.
“I have zero fear. Fear I have when ‘oh if we don’t get this done, this club I don’t know what is going [to happen].’ Now, there is no fear — just purpose, fire and conviction we are going to do it.”
Arsenal were booed off by their own supporters against Bournemouth on an afternoon when the home crowd’s frustration was clearly audible and Arteta had a similar message for fans ahead of Sporting’s visit.
“No fear, pure fire, that’s it,” he said. “Me the first one. Pure fire. That’s what I want to see. The players, the people and myself. That’s it, go for it because the opportunity is unbelievable. We are in April, we have an incredible opportunity in front of us. Let’s confront it, let’s go for it by really putting absolutely everything into it.
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“What we are trying to achieve is difficult, it is challenging, it is bumpy at times and it is supposed to be like this. Guys, we are trying to do something in this competition that hasn’t been done in the history of the club. So that tells you the difficulty and what you guys are doing, it could be the first time [we are back-to-back in the semifinal of the Champions League]. For other clubs, that is the daily meal. For us, no.
“So we value a lot where we are. We have an opportunity to go to the semifinals, we are competing to win the Premier League and we are in a really strong position after 22 years without doing it. So we know the difficulty but the beauty is that is it is difficult, it is challenging and that is why we are so willing to do it.”
Arteta was coy over the availability of several key players including Declan Rice, who missed training on Tuesday along with Bukayo Saka, Martin Ødegaard, Jurriën Timber and Riccardo Calafiori.
This post was originally published at ESPN
