Mikel Arteta and Arsenal secured one of the biggest wins of his tenure at the club on Sunday when the Gunners beat Liverpool 3-1 at the Emirates Stadium.
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Arteta celebrated wildly once Arsenal retook the lead from Liverpool, and he joined the pitchside desk after the game on Peacock Premium to tell the NBC Sports crew how good it felt to keep up a Premier League title push.
“It was a great game against an unbelievable opponent,” said a glowing Arteta. “They demand you to be at an incredible level at every action. We are very happy.”
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Arteta has been lauded for his tactical plan in the game, which focused on Gabriel Martinelli wide on the left. The Gunners made Liverpool uncomfortable at both ends of the pitch.
“We had to because the way they are set up, they don’t give you time,” Arteta said. “We believed we could hurt them in these areas and we tried to do it.”
Mikel Arteta: Halftime message was one of courage
Arsenal could’ve wilted after dominating the first half but conceding a bad goal in first-half stoppage time.
So what did Arteta say to his charges?
“I said we have to keep, especially with body language, in the most positive way,” Arteta said. “They were touched [by conceeding]. I said guys if you feel sorry for yourselves out there, they will punish you so we have to be on top of our games. And they were.”
Arteta said the Gunners can continue to push for the Premier League title if they maintain this attitude, and he praised the North London home faithful.
“We have to demand each other than nothing is enough and we want more and we want more,” he said. “This crowd demands it and today you could feel it from the crowd.”
He also shared special praise for Jorginho, who was honored as Man of the Match.
“That’s the reason we brought him. The capacity to lead, to understand, to find solutions, to make the rest of the team better is unbelievable.”