Arteta begs Arsenal to celebrate wildly if they score last-gasp winner as he fears this is best chance to ever win title
MIKEL ARTETA has told Arsenal players and staff: Go crazy if we score another late Premier League winner.
The referee for the Gunners’ clash at Newcastle today is Chris Kavanagh, the official who complained about wild celebrations by Arteta’s men after Reiss Nelson’s 97th-minute winner over Bournemouth in March.
Kavanagh’s match report led to an FA probe, to the fury of Arsenal fans and the bemusement of Gunners boss Arteta.
He said: “Even when I am watching TV and another team scores in the 97th minute, and they celebrate like that… they should do.
“This is the beauty of this sport. When you have the chance to do it — do it!”
Meanwhile, Arteta has admitted Arsenal may never have as good a chance to win the Premier League.
The Gunners boss reckons the current campaign has been the toughest he has known in more than 20 years in English football.
But in an era of state-backed clubs such as Manchester City and today’s opponents Newcastle, Arteta knows it is only going to get more difficult.
Newcastle, under a Saudi Arabia-led consortium, have gone from flirting with the Championship to being on target to qualify for the Champions League.
Given Arsenal’s own transformation into title contenders this year, could their hosts this afternoon mount a similar challenge next season?
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Arteta said: “I don’t know. They have performed really well this season and they deserve to be where they are.
“We have done the same. But next season will be something completely different in my opinion.
“From my experience — 22 years here — this has been the most difficult league that I have participated in.
“Next season looks like it is going to be even harder. But this one, with four games to go, I’m telling you, it’s the hardest I have ever been involved in.”
After leading the way for so long, Arsenal surrendered the initiative to City by losing 4-1 at the Etihad last month.
They need to win at St James’ Park today to have any hope of overhauling the club where Arteta won two titles as Pep Guardiola’s assistant.
When asked if this season was the best chance for a team like Arsenal to lift the title — given the financial advantages of City and Newcastle — Arteta said: “It is the best time because this is the moment right now.
“The best time is when you have something and try to take it, because you don’t know when you are going to have another opportunity. That’s what we are trying to do.
“We are going to Newcastle to try to win and continue to be there.”
‘LEADERSHIP, EXPERIENCE & YOUTH’
The acquisition of Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko from City last summer was designed to inject a winning mentality into Arsenal.
But after their April slump, Arteta needs players like captain Martin Odegaard and long-serving Granit Xhaka to show how far they have come in the past year.
He said: “It’s a collaboration of all the players and how they connect with each other. And finding the right balance between leadership, experience and youth.
“I think we have a good mixture. Can we evolve, can we get better? For sure, yes. And that’s what we aim for.”
Whatever happens in the remainder of the season, the Spaniard will seek further evolution of his team in the transfer market this summer.
All the Gunners’ rivals in what is now a Premier League Big Seven will strengthen. Newcastle and City will doubtless spend more of their resources on significant signings.
Arteta said: “We have to compete with those teams because we are Arsenal Football Club.
“The demands are to be the best in everything we do, so we have to find a way to do that.”
If Arsenal can somehow find a way to win the title, it will be a remarkable achievement.
But after being front-runners for most of the season, would coming second feel like failure — even if it was to the City machine that combines the most expensively-assembled squad in English history with one of the greatest coaches?
Arteta said: “When the season finishes, we will know where we are. But I certainly wouldn’t use those words.”
- ARSENAL (likely): Ramsdale, White, Kiwior, Gabriel, Zinchenko, Odegaard, Partey, Xhaka, Saka, Jesus, Martinelli.