Arteta: ‘We are the most exciting team in Europe‘
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Reading Time: 3min | Tue. 03.02.26. | 18:05
The Gunners' boss dismissed claims that his team is boring
The win against Leeds came at the right time for Arsenal. After two goalless games in the Premier League (Liverpool, Nottingham Forest), followed by a shocking defeat (Manchester United), the phase ‘they bottled it‘ began to surface again as the title race was again questioned by TV pundits and fans. Even such legends as Patrick Vieira talked about ‘mental‘ issues so a win at Leeds was huge, especially when other results were good as well (City‘s draw and Villa‘s defeat). So, with six points more than Guardiola‘s Manchester, Mikel Arteta can now move his focus to a competition his club hasn‘t won since….1993!
The popular League Cup, which is nowadays called Carabao Cup (for marketing purposes) was a subject of Arsenal‘s possession only two times: in 1987 and in 1993. The Gunners finally managed to get into the semifinals where there are no easy opponents left: Chelsea, Manchester City and Newcastle. Arsenal defeated Chelsea in the first leg 3-2 and are hosts tonight but still face criticism. Former United‘s midfielder Paul Scholes went as far as saying that Arsenal would be the ‘most boring team‘ to win the Premier League, but Arteta claimed that in other countries the vision of his team is completely different.
“I hear completely the opposite: all around Europe that we are the most exciting team in Europe – the most goals, the most clean sheets. Maybe I have different sources” said the Spaniard. Asked why there was such a disparity of views at home and abroad, Arteta said: “I don’t know which people. You send me the names, the addresses and the email and maybe we can talk but I can’t give you a massive book of all the people”.
What was Scholes most referring to, when making claims of ‘boring‘ Arsenal, was the lack of goals from Arsenal’s front four this season and reliance on set pieces as evidence for his claim. Viktor Gyokeres is the club’s top scorer in the league with six, and Arsenal have scored 17 goals from set pieces – three more than any other club.
Chelsea failed to defeat Arsenal in their past nine meetings, but are playing good under new boss Liam Rosenior who is determined that his team is more than capable of playing in big matches, even if his team is down 3-2 from the first leg.
“Enzo Fernandez has won a World Cup, as well as the group winning two trophies last year. They can play in big games; they can perform in big games, and it is definitely a big game on Tuesday. My concern is resting. It’s another three-game week. We need to recover. It’s going to be a really physical game“ said Rosenior, who will be without Gittens (injury) while Estevao‘s fitness after coming late from Brazil is unknown.
England League Cup semifinal
Tuesday
23.00: (1.75) Arsenal (4.00) Chelsea (5.00)
Wednesday
23.00: (1.80) Man.City (3.85) Newcastle (4.25)
* odds are subject to change
