Mikel Arteta made unprompted criticisms of the media after Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Chelsea on Wednesday night.
The Gunners boss had just watched Emile Smith Rowe score the only goal of the game in an unexpected victory at Stamford Bridge, and took the opportunity to take issue with the media’s portrayal of his pre-match comments.
“Nothing is broken. Inside, nothing is broken,” he told Sky Sports. “They [the media] try to put things on me that I never said.
“You can see the spirit of the team from the first minute. It doesn’t matter whether we’re playing seventh, eighth, ninth. You can never doubt their efforts and how much they are trying.”
Asked to clarify, Arteta said: “I said that if I don’t get 120 per cent off each player, it’s my fault and my responsibility, but it wasn’t [portrayed] like that in the press and I am so annoyed with that. I will defend my players in front of anybody for the rest of the time that I’m here. They deserve that because they earn it every single day.
“Every player that is here does that. If he doesn’t, he is not here, because the only thing I’m going to demand until the last day is that they give me everything that they have. That is unquestionable and non-negotiable, 100 per cent.”
See our 16 Conclusions from the game for details of exactly what Arteta said in those pre-match quotes.
He then spoke about Arsenal’s team spirit, saying: “They [the media] are not going to break that. They can try, but they’re not going to break that.
“Not the chemistry that we have – not only with the players but with our staff, with the board. They can’t touch that.
“If they try to touch it, it can be with opinions, but not by saying something that I never said. I’m not taking that.”
Arsenal are now in eighth and within one point of Tottenham, who are currently in the Europa Conference League spot.
“I am really happy with a lot of things we’ve done,” added Arteta. “Right from the first minute, the attitude and the desire that we showed.
“We had to dig in, which you have to against this team because they are a fantastic team. We did it and we gave everything we had to try to do the best possible job and we did it.
“It’s a big win for the club, for the players and for the fans. I know how much a London derby means and it’s been 10 years since we’ve won at this ground so that tells you how hard it is.”
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