Mikel Arteta, Arsenal's head coach, opened up after leading his team to a victory over Brighton in the latest English Premier League match.
Mikel Arteta, manager of the "Gunners" Arsenal, said he was very happy with the team's performance after beating Brighton 2-1 to remain top of the English Premier League, but felt the team should have won by a larger margin given the opportunities created.
Arteta said, “I am very happy with our performance, both individually and as a team. We dominated the game and created many dangerous chances, so I am satisfied with everything, but we should have won by a bigger scoreline.”
“I mean, with the chances and opportunities we created throughout the game, it shouldn't have been just 2-1. But that’s the Premier League. This is the stage we have to progress through. What I liked is that we faced many problems but managed them incredibly well—that’s the spirit and determination of our players.”
Regarding maintaining the top spot, Arteta said, “We can only control what we do, and we are already doing many good things. But I think we need to improve further to get better results. We want several players to return so we have better options and keep the squad fresh. Playing every three days will be a challenge, and we are ready to handle it.”
“We have a lot of quality. What I like is our style of play, how we create chances, the players’ enthusiasm to initiate plays, and the aggression to make things happen. Brighton is a very tough team to play against, and I think we did very well in this game.”
Regarding the tension felt by fans during the game, Arteta said, “That’s the desire to win! We all want to win very much. We should have scored a third goal—we had two big chances to make it 3-1, and if that had happened, everything would have been different. But we didn’t, so everyone needs to be patient a bit longer, but in the end, we won.”