Mikel Arteta: Fatigue is not a justification for Arsenal during current downturn

Mikel Arteta emphasized that Arsenal should not cite fatigue as a reason for their loss against Bournemouth, urging his players to regain their “enjoyment” of the sport.

Arsenal squandered a significant chance to extend their lead over Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City to 12 points after delivering a lackluster performance in a 2-1 defeat to the Cherries at the Emirates.

This loss marked Arsenal’s third consecutive defeat in domestic competitions, following their Carabao Cup final setback against City and an unexpected FA Cup elimination at the hands of Championship team Southampton.

Arsenal aims to recover quickly in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Sporting Lisbon in London on Wednesday.

The match—where Arsenal holds a narrow 1-0 lead from the first leg—will be the north London club’s 54th of the current season, just three more than City will have played.

Several of Arteta’s players seemed to struggle during the loss to Bournemouth, with captain Martin Ødegaard, key winger Bukayo Saka, and full-back Jurriën Timber all sidelined due to injuries.

– Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta: Bournemouth defeat a ‘big punch in the face’
– Viktor Gyökeres: Dry pitch ‘didn’t help’ Arsenal in Bournemouth defeat
– Pep Guardiola: Man City ‘know what to do’ in title race vs. Arsenal

When questioned about whether he perceived fatigue in his squad, Arteta responded:

“I don’t want to rely on those excuses because we’ve been playing so many matches, every three days, and we will need to keep doing that.

“That’s the context and that’s the scenario, and we must embrace it and particularly enjoy the opportunity.

“That’s one aspect that I didn’t observe from the team, that level of enjoyment in certain moments and the determination we need to truly alter the course of the game when it becomes challenging.

“We will encounter different contexts from now until June, and we must be capable of adapting and addressing all of them if we wish to achieve our goals.”

Viktor Gyökeres was among the few Arsenal players to emerge from Saturday’s defeat with any commendation.

He converted a first-half penalty, bringing his season total to 18 goals.

Looking forward to Arsenal’s second leg against his former club Sporting at the Emirates—with a potential semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain or Liverpool on the horizon—Viktor Gyökeres stated:

“We have many crucial matches ahead, and we need to embrace it and enjoy playing those games.

“It’s an exciting match coming up in a few days, so we just need to recover now, put this behind us, and deliver a strong performance on Wednesday.”