Mikel Arteta believes Arsenal will go “bang” after the Covid-19 pandemic has eased and is convinced their current league position does not tell the full story of their progress in recent months.
Arsenal face Olympiakos in a Europa League last-16 first leg tie on Thursday and the Arsenal manager admits there is a score to settle after the Greek side shocked them last season at the preceding stage.
European success looks fundamental to Arsenal’s campaign, and perhaps their longer-term prospects, given they remain 10th in the Premier League, but Arteta thinks they are on the path to something spectacular.
“We have created a really strong group, a really strong bond with our players, our fans and our staff, and that is going to pay some big [dividends] in the future when everything comes back to normality and we are able to work with some stability,” he said. “I think this project is going to go ‘bang’. Sometimes it is difficult to see the moment now but I’m sure where we are going.”
Arsenal announced a £47.8m loss last season, due in part to the impact of the pandemic’s early months, and warned that those shockwaves are still being felt. It means there is little margin for error over the next two and a half months: failure to secure any kind of continental football for 2021-22 would affect Arteta’s plans heavily and he is concerned about the financial pressure.
“I am, because I want a sustainable club,” he said. “We all want a club that can be run with their own resources. Our responsibility, and everything we are planning for the future, is for this club to go back to being sustainable on its own, and being as strong as possible in every department. The financial department is crucial as well.”
Arteta described qualification for the Champions League, which would either be achieved by winning the Europa League or bridging a 12-point gap to the top four domestically, as “difficult but possible” and said the money attached to it is “really, really important” for the club.
The two Olympiakos ties sit in a run of top-flight matches against Spurs, West Ham and Liverpool. It feels like a defining month in Arsenal’s season and Arteta did not play the suggestion down.
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“What we need to do it put four or five wins in a row,” he said. “If we are able to do that then things are going to look very different in two or three weeks’ time. If we don’t, obviously we don’t have a chance.”
In February 2020 Arsenal won 1-0 in Piraeus before dramatically losing 2-1 at home, meaning Olympiakos went through on away goals. “We have some feelings towards that team and we want to put it right,” Arteta said.