Interview

Arteta - We have a great opportunity now

It's all eyes on Wembley now for Mikel Arteta and his squad.

We brought the curtain down on the Premier League season on Sunday afternoon with a 3-2 victory over Watford, which means that we finish the season in 8th place.

Our head coach was asked about our end to the season, using a back four and beating the Hornets - and this is what he said:

on the game and the performance...

Crazy game! Right from the beginning when we scored after one minute from a penalty that had to be checked. After we went 2-0 up, I could see that the game was open and that we didn't have the urgency without the ball to do what we normally do and when that happens against a team that needs to score goals and has that necessity, you're going to suffer. We allowed them to put the ball in the box too many times, too easily, and against this team that's probably one of the things that you have to avoid the most.

on it being a frenetic match...

We had a lot of chances as well to score more goals but it was more of a basketball game at times. It was very open. Obviously they left some players up the pitch for the counter and if you don't finish the actions, in those situations you are exposed on the counter and the gaps were too big. As well, physically it's been so tough in the last 16 days with the amount of games and the type of games we've played.

on playing a back four today...

With the way that they play, I thought it was much better attacking, defending and in transition with how we could control the situation. We wanted to rest a few players as well that have been playing. We had even more injuries last week, so at the back we are really, really short and that's why.

on what conclusions he draws from the season...

Well, I need a month probably to get some conclusions! Since I arrived here on the 20th of December, so many things happened and so many stones have been in our way but I believe we have done a lot of progress in many situations. Around the environment as well that we are creating, the unity that the fans, team and club are showing at the moment and I think we are on a good track. We have a great opportunity now to have a good season if we are able to win against Chelsea in the final, lift the trophy and qualify for Europe.

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