In this video
- Unbeaten through the whole competition, and beaten in the final on penalties. Arteta lists the margins: the box decisions that went against them and a shootout. When you are that close, he says, hurting like this is exactly how they should feel.
“What I said to the players and the staff is that if I tell them 1 million times thank you, it's not going to be enough.”
- He wanted it, Arteta says. Saka, Odegaard and Havertz are the prepared takers, but the plan always had different names for a shootout after extra time and substitutions. In training, he adds, the man who missed does not miss any.
- Go through it, digest it, and turn it into fuel: the response Arsenal have shown to Premier League setbacks is what he is asking for now in Europe, because the level around the continent demands another step.
- The line the post is named after. Arteta congratulates PSG and Luis Enrique: in his opinion the best team in the world, doing things with the ball and in individual actions he has not seen before. Being forced out of your own plan, he says, makes his players' final even more creditable.
- Before answering on the decisions, Arteta says he spent the last 72 hours comparing every penalty given in the competition, and that the one Arsenal wanted could easily have been given. Then he turns it inward: do better, find different margins.
- A few days with his family, then the review starts: very important decisions, he says, if Arsenal want to reach another level. He believes they are more than capable, but it will demand real ambition, speed and smart choices.
Arteta reflects on Arsenal’s UCL Final loss and gives his honest take on PSG. saying they are the best team in the world and what PSG can do with the ball is something he hasn’t seen before.
He addresses the penalty decisions, Gabriel’s miss in the shootout, and what Arsenal need to do differently to compete at this level.
Arteta also speaks about his gratitude to the squad and the importance of using this defeat as a stepping stone going into next season.
