MIKEL ARTETA EXCLUSIVE: This club has got it all... how can we be so far behind? It is not acceptable. The board know that, and hopefully they'll do something about it

Dailymail.co.uk 11/03/2013

Unacceptable is a word that crops up a few times in this interview. Sitting in the plush West Lodge Park Hotel in Hertfordshire, just a stones throw from Arsenal's London Colney training complex, Mikel Arteta is honest and forthright.
There is no air of resignation from the Spaniard, however, as he discusses the ins and outs, successes and failures of the Gunners' topsy-turvy campaign.
Instead, there's a steely determination in his voice. It is a determination to ensure this is not the season Arsenal lose their place among Europe's elite.

'With 10 games to go and to be 24 points behind [the leaders], it's an impossible catch and that, for me, is unacceptable,' said Arteta. 
'We can't be in that position because we have the best basic structure I've ever seen at a football club. Great philosophy, good players, we've got financial backing to do whatever we want, unbelievable crowds for the stadium. Let's go for it!
'Staying in the Champions League is massive. If we don't get in those spots it makes everything much more difficult. To any team with top players, you have to ask what's going to happen. There's only one answer: we want to improve the team.

'We want to be better and next season we want to get more points, which means we will have won more games. I think the board know that and, hopefully, this summer we'll do something about it.'
That will be easier said than done if Arsenal fail to qualify for the Champions League. Arsene Wenger knows he has to spend this summer and the noises coming out of the Emirates are that he is willing to write large cheques.
But, without the lure of playing in Europe's premier club competition next season, attracting those big names will be a struggle.
'When I decided to leave Everton and join Arsenal, playing in the Champions League was a major factor,' said Arteta , speaking at the launch of the new PUMA Kings.
'To play in those big games is a great experience and I don't regret the decision. It improves you as a player.
'It's a good test to see where you are. Sometimes you think you are playing unbelievable but then you play in the Champions League against top players and you think: "I've got a lot of work to do".'
Speaking of having a lot of work to do, Arteta's side will tomorrow face the daunting the prospect of trying to overturn a 3-1 Champions League deficit away at arguably the strongest team on the continent at the moment: Bayern Munich.
Jupp Heynckes' side were irresistible in the first leg, with their pace, power, passing and German know-how sweeping the Gunners aside with consummate ease.

Arteta said: 'Bayern were very good in the first leg and it will be even harder away from home. For me, they are the best team we have played this season.
'They are strong physically, have some talented players who can unlock the door at any moment and they are solid and organised.'
Despite the common consensus, Arteta insists all is not lost for Arsenal in their attempts to stay in the competition.
If they need inspiration, a walk down memory lane should do the trick. Having lost their last 16 first leg against AC Milan 4-0 last year, the Gunners almost pulled off a miraculous comeback at the Emirates, winning the return leg 3-0.

But, as Arteta reflects on that game, that adjective - unacceptable - enters the conversation again. This time he's remembering the disastrous FA Cup home defeat by Blackburn.
'We want to win silverware a lot,' said Arteta. 'That's why the FA Cup exit was crazy. It was hard to get that out of my head.
'The way we threw it away, it was unbelievable. Then you see the draw. We just had to win that game and it was a straight line to the final. I shouldn't be sitting here having not played in an FA Cup quarter-final last weekend. It's frustrating. To throw it away like that is unacceptable.
'Our performances can be good for 89 minutes, then we make a stupid mistake and we've lost. Most of the games you can't criticise the performance or the attitude but we have moments that cost us the game.
'You can't keep saying we played well but lost. It's not good enough.'
He's right. But missing out on Champions League qualification would be truly unacceptable.

Forget Euro exit, let's now reclaim Champions League spot, says Arsenal midfielder Arteta

Dailymail.co.uk 14/03/2013

Mikel Arteta has warned Arsenal not be fooled by their win against Bayern Munich but to build on the encouraging signs and secure an instant return to the Champions League.
Arteta, captain in Munich as Arsene Wenger left out Thomas Vermaelen, urged his team-mates to take the same attitude into the final 10 games of the Barclays Premier League campaign, starting at Swansea tomorrow(SAT) because the Gunners must finish in the top four.



'It has to give us confidence but we have to keep our feet on the ground,' said Arteta. 'We haven't had the consistency required at this football club.
'It is a massive game coming up. We are going to face a very difficult team. So we need to get back on it, get the legs, we don't have 72 hours to recover. This club cannot afford to be out of the Champions league. That's in our mind. That's the target.'
Arsenal won 2-0 in Munich and went out of Europe on away goals after coming agonisingly close to disproving the theory that the tie was dead after Bayern won the first-leg 3-1 at the Emirates Stadium.
'Some of the critics are right,' said Arteta. 'When you concede three at home you can't expect anything different. The frustrating thing is when we lose games when the opposition does very little to win. That is what we have to cut straight out. If not, it will be very difficult to get what we want. We realise that if you make mistakes in big competitions you pay for them.
'But we put some things right. We can take a lot of positives, a result like that doesn't happen often. We have the characters and we have the desire. The boss is at it and we are going to keep fighting to the end. Some days we really deserve criticism and we need to be hit on the back. After this, we deserve a pat.'

Wenger made bold changes in Munich, dropping skipper Vermaelen, who had played every minutes of the European campaign, and first-choice goalkeeper Wojciech Szczensy.
In doing so, he may have stumbled upon a more balanced and solid defensive formula as he attempts to cut the points deficit to Chelsea and Tottenham.
Lukasz Fabianski was recalled in goal and impressed on his first appearance in more than a year.
'There was a lot of pressure on him,' said Arteta. 'He came in and was fantastic. He dominated the box, made a great save as well in the second-half.
'We are really happy with him because he has been working really hard. He has done it in Munich so why can't he do it in the following games?'