‘I’m on fire’ – Passionate Arteta responds to criticism of him and his Arsenal side

‘I’m on fire’ – Passionate Arteta responds to criticism of him and his Arsenal side

Mikel Arteta insists he and his players have “no fear” about the opportunities ahead of them this season.

Arsenal will look to return to winning ways on Wednesday when they take on Sporting CP in the second leg of the quarter-finals of the Champions League, having lost 2-1 to Bournemouth in the Premier League on Saturday.

That defeat and Manchester City’s win over Chelsea on Sunday means Arsenal’s lead at the top of the table narrowed to six points, with City having a game in hand and facing the Gunners at the Etihad Stadium this weekend.

“No fear, pure fire. That’s it,” Arteta responded when asked what messaged he wanted to give to the players and the fans ahead of their second leg with Sporting.

“Me, the first one. Pure fire. That’s what I want to see from people, the players, 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 and really go for it by putting absolutely everything into it.”

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Asked how he was feeling, Arteta responded: “Fire. I’m on fire. That’s it, nothing else. I’m dreaming so much, I’ve done so much to be in this position because I know how this club was.

“I just see beauty, opportunity and I want to get it done for all the people who have been on this journey with us and because they deserve it, they’ve been unbelievable.

“That’s what is driving me every single day. I have zero fear.

“Fear I had, when if we don’t get this done, this club, I don’t know what is going to happen. That is fear. Now, there is no fear, it’s just purpose, fire, direction and conviction that we’re going to do it.”

Arteta’s side lead Sporting 1-0 from their first-leg win in Portugal and Arteta also stressed how much his players have already achieved in the last few years.

“What we are trying to achieve is difficult, it’s challenging, it’s bumpy at times, and it’s supposed to be like this,” he said.

“You have to confront it and what I basically said is guys, in this competition (the Champions League), we are trying to do something that hasn’t been done in the history of the club.

“That tells you the difficulty of that and what you guys are doing. It’s the first time, three years in a row, that we are in the quarter finals of the Champions League. The first time in our history.

“We value a lot where we are. We have the opportunity tomorrow to go the semi finals, we are competing to win the Premier League and we are in a really strong position after 22 years without doing it. So we know the difficulty of that.

“But the beauty of it is that it’s difficult, it’s challenging, and that’s why we are so willing to do it.

“There are things that we’ve done. I repeat myself, we haven’t been in this position in the Champions League ever in our history.

“We have overcome a lot of hurdles, hurdles that were there for 140 years. The team is doing something incredible because it’s never been done before.

“To go to the next step, we have the ambition more than anybody else and that’s where the beauty lies, in doing it and we are there. We are very, very close.”

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