'I am still so proud of these players'published at 14:53 Greenwich Mean Time 4 February 2023
FT: Everton 1-0 Arsenal
Arsenal
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta speaking to BT Sport: "We had loads of the ball but we lacked that purpose and quality in the final third, we generated many chances. But then we conceded and they slowed the game down and we struggled.
"They do this to every team that is their strength with the height, the physicality is their strength, if you want to control the game against them you have to control this. We did not do that today.
"We needed more composure and to control emotionally the game better. We gave away so many unnecessary free-kicks and that's what they want.
"Today I love them much better than the week before or a month ago. It is easy to be next to someone when they are winning well. I am still so proud of all of these players, they deserve it.
"This is not going to be a rose pathway. This is going to be tricky and we will have to dig in and play much better than we did today."