Arsenal’s difficult moment and the leader who does not shrink
The defeat against Southampton in the FA Cup was a hard blow. Two weeks after losing in the League Cup final, Arsenal sees two titles slip away in one breath.
But Mikel Arteta is not here to point the blame. On the contrary. The coach came out against his players with a statement that speaks more about his leadership than any tactical analysis.
“I appreciate my players and what they have done for nine months,” Arteta said. “What am I going to do now? Criticize them because we lost a game here? No, I’m not going to do that. I’m going to defend them more than ever.”
The message was clear: if anyone is carrying the backpack, it’s me.
“If anyone has to take responsibility, it’s me,” said the Spaniard, marking territory. “And we have ahead of us the most beautiful period of the season.”
The injury that is of greatest concern
To make matters worse, Gabriel Magalhaes had to go off injured in the second half. He was seen with ice on his knee, just when he returned from missing the FIFA date with Brazil as a precaution.
“I think he felt something,” Arteta said of his central defender. “When a player asks to be substituted it is never good news.”
Now it’s time to wait for the medical studies. At a key moment, losing Gabriel would be another huge obstacle.
But Arteta insists: this is not a crisis, it is a challenge.
“When I say difficulty, we are going to play the quarterfinals of the Champions League and the final stretch of the league,” he explained. “It is a difficult period, but I think many others are much more difficult.”
The final message was for the locker room: get up and continue.
The Premier League, with a nine-point advantage, and the Champions League quarterfinals against Sporting are now the only focus. The opportunity to turn this ‘difficulty’ into greatness is still there.
As Arteta says: it is the beautiful moment.
