Mikel Arteta calls emergency meeting after Man United defeat

Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta revealed that he called a meeting with the squad after the defeat to Manchester United, in which they discussed their approach to the rest of the season. 

The Gunners currently lead the Premier League and UCL tables. They are also in the semi-final of the Carabao Cup and are progressing in the FA Cup.

Despite being favourites for all the titles they are competing for this season, the atmosphere around the Gunners is dour, as they have failed to pick up a win in their last three Premier League matches, drawing against Nottingham Forest and Liverpool and losing to the Red Devils.

Their recent run of poor results in the league has meant that they have failed to capitalise on slip-ups from the chasing pack and have seen their one sizeable lead cut down to four points.

Given Arsenal’s consecutive second-place finishes in three seasons, there have been concerns that they could fail to go across the finishing line once again. 

Hence, Arteta said that he called a meeting to reflect and announced that they will be approaching the next four months with renewed vigour.

"The reaction has been excellent. We took a moment to bring the temperature down, to pause and to reflect and ask two questions,” he said. “One is, how do we feel, and how do I feel myself? And then, how are we going to live the next four months? 

“And it was so encouraging and beautiful because what came out of that is very simple. We have earned the right to be in a great position in four competitions, and in the next four months, we're going to live and play with enjoyment, with a lot of courage and with the conviction that we're going to win it.  

"And this is going to be the mindset and where we're going to put the energy. And I'm just hoping that everybody that is related to this club, especially our supporters, jump on that boat because this is the way that we're going to live the next four months because we deserve to live like this."