Mikel Arteta has urged Arsenal not to be satisfied with being runners-up and backed his team to win the Premier League after suffering heartache for the second consecutive season.
The Gunners came from behind to beat Everton 2-1 at Emirates Stadium through goals from Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kai Havertz, but the result was not enough as Manchester City defeated West Ham 3-1 to win the title by two points.
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Addressing supporters on the pitch at full-time, Arteta said: “Now it is time to have a break, think, reflect, and please keep pushing. Keep inspiring this team. Don’t be satisfied because we want much more than that and we are going to get it.”
Later asked why he was so confident, Arteta replied: “If we do what we have to do, we’re going to be closer and at the end we’ll win it. When, I don’t know. But if we keep knocking and being that close, in the end it will happen.”
Arsenal ended the season on 89 points — the third-highest tally in Premier League history not to win the league.
When asked whether City had raised the bar so high that 100 points now might be required, Arteta, who spent three years as a coach under Pep Guardiola at Etihad Stadium, said: “Yeah. But I was there when we did 100 points so I know what it takes. I know what happened and this is the level.
“No one has to explain what the level is because I was there four years every day and I know what we have to do if we are going to reach there. Not only for one season, but for the rest, but we are on the right path, the right journey and to see the evolution so quickly happening, I haven’t seen it before.
“So, we’re on the right trajectory and now we need really to pull the teeth and bite into it because we really want more.
“When you look in the last 15 to 20 years of this league, the competition wasn’t like it is today and for sure [with 89 points] you are champion. But it is not enough. This is as well probably we are getting better and better and better and faster because someone is so good that you have to chase it.
“That is what makes you good as well. That’s it. We cannot feel sorry for ourselves, guys. We tried, we are improving. It was an unbelievable season again but we are not champions and that is the reality.”