(Reuters) – Arsenal boss Mike Arteta has called on his squad to step up and handle the pressure of the Premier League title race after the north London club lost back-to-back games in all competitions.
Arsenal were dumped out of the FA Cup by Manchester City in the fourth round last month before they lost their first league game since September with a 1-0 loss at Everton last weekend.
Arteta’s side are five points clear of City at the top with a game in hand and they next host seventh-placed Brentford on Saturday.
“In football you’re going to lose matches, very different ones we lost to City and against Everton,” Arteta told reporters.
“But losing brings a lot of opportunities, where to look at other things and see the reaction of the team, which has been superb this week (in training).
“I am an energy-giver, I don’t like energy-suckers. I like people who give energy in many different ways. It could be body language, the tone of voice, hugging people, looking for solutions, no excuses – a lot of energy.”
Arteta refused to comment on the Premier League’s charges levelled at City having been Pep Guardiola’s assistant at the club for three years.
He also said their focus was on the Brentford game and that the midweek top-of-the-table clash against the reigning champions four days later will have no bearing on team selection.
“Our only focus is about Brentford tomorrow, all the preparation has been about that,” he added.
“Let’s go into tomorrow’s game with the right mindset because we’re going to have to be really, really good to beat them.”
Arteta confirmed Gabriel Jesus is doing well after his return to training from a knee surgery but they would respect recovery timelines before setting a return date for the Brazilian striker who was injured at the World Cup.
The Spanish manager also said Emile Smith Rowe and Reiss Nelson are inching closer to returns from injury but are “not ready to contribute yet”.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
