Manager calls on players and fans to embrace the chance of Champions League success despite recent defeats
There was a dramatic pause when Mikel Arteta was asked what he wants from the Arsenal supporters against Sporting on Wednesday evening in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final.
After his attempts to rouse them before the early kick-off against Bournemouth at the weekend by telling them to “bring your lunch” backfired spectacularly with a costly home defeat that ended with some fans booing the Premier League leaders off the pitch, this time the message was more considered.
“No fear. Pure fire,” said the Arsenal manager. “That’s what I want to see from the players, from the people, from myself. That’s it. Go for it because the opportunity is unbelievable. We are in April, we have an incredible opportunity ahead of us. Let’s confront it, let’s go for it by really putting absolutely everything into it.”
In a week that the Spaniard’s ability to get Arsenal over the line has been called into serious question after three successive Premier League runners-up finishes, Arteta seemed at pains to insist that it is business as usual despite three defeats in their past four matches. Crisis? What crisis? Yet considering that they had only lost three times in their previous 49 games in all competitions, with Manchester City breathing down their necks again and major doubts about when talisman Bukayo Saka will play again due to an achilles issue, this surely ranks as the biggest challenge Arteta has faced since taking over in 2019.
