Mikel Arteta believes convincing players to join Arsenal will not be difficult even if their impressive FA Cup semi-final win against Manchester City does not lead to European qualification.
A goal in each half from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyangknocked out the holders . If Arsenal go on to beat Chelsea in the FA Cup final, Europa League football will be secured and they also have an outside chance of qualifying via the league.
Arteta is bullish about strengthening in the summer window, regardless of whether they qualify for Europe or not.
“I don’t think we should bring players that need a lot of convincing,” he said. “The feeling I get when I talk to a lot of people is that the players still want to come to the club because of the history, the way we do things, our values, the fans we have, our stadium. That’s a really attractive thing, that’s my feeling.”
Victory against City followed the win on Wednesday against the league champions, Liverpool, and Arteta wants his team to continue the form in the season’s final two league games – the trip to Aston Villa on Tuesday and the hosting of Watford on Sunday. “That is the challenge,” he said. “The challenge is to do [what we just did] for long periods in a season. From now we have a challenge, after a beautiful week winning against the best two teams in Europe, in my opinion, how do we react? Do we back off, or do we go again and are we ready to play against Aston Villa?
“Every game has a different plan. We have to be very analytical and realistic with our options, where they are and how we can make them better. The resilience we showed at the back was enormous and the efficiency up top as well, because you need that. I am really happy with that.”
Arteta, who took over in December, can claim a trophy in his first season by guiding Arsenal to a 14th Cup triumph on 1 August. “For me it is a huge win [over City] because our obligation with this club is to fight for silverware, to be with the top teams. We have reached the final. I put that pressure on myself – to beat the best team in the country is great.”
David Luiz was among Arsenal’s best performers, the Brazilian having made vital mistakes in the 3-0 league defeat at City last month. Arteta was asked how David Luiz and the rest of an impressive defence had improved. “By a lot of talking to them, showing them images [of games], doing individual work. And then they are so willing. They want to ask questions, they want to do more and more and when that happens normally, and slowly, you keep improving.”
Pep Guardiola denied that his defence was exposed at Wembley. The rearguard was culpable for each Aubameyang goal and a vulnerability to the counterattack but the City manager said: “It [the defence] was not a problem. There were counterattacks and we made a mistake for one but it was not a problem. How many counterattacks did they use – maybe one or two actions? Not more than this.”
Guardiola had billed the semi-final as an important mental test before the Champions League last-16 second leg with Real Madrid next month, which his side start with a 2-1 advantage. City have secured second place in the league so the manager has to ensure his players remain fresh.
“The fact that the Premier League is already done and we play for nothing [is a factor],” Guardiola said. “In general, except for [last week’s] Bournemouth game, when they deserved to win, and in the first half against Arsenal, which was not good – in the rest of the games it’s been good. They have to [respond]. As the manager I motivate them and tell them what to do, so they have to [do it].
“What the players have done is incredible. But we were in a FA Cup semi-final – so we have to play the whole 90 minutes and we played just the second 45. In the first half everything was sloppy and not the right speed for this kind of game, when you want to reach a final.”
Arteta, Guardiola’s former assistant for three years, is viewed as being a student of the Catalan, but the City manager believes his status has become more elevated than that. “He has a strong work ethic, he sees what happens, he has the mentality. Maybe we learned from him [in this defeat], I don’t know.”