Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has spoken out following the Gunners’ exit from the Europa League earlier this week.
The north London outfit lost 2-1 to Olympiacos in extra time at the Emirates and crashed out of the competition at the hands of the Greek club.
Speaking at the club’s press conference ahead of their FA Cup tie against Portsmouth, Arteta told reporters that he believes the Gunners ‘deserved’ to win their game against the Greek outfit.
Arteta: "We are all down and disappointed. The players tried, tried and tried again and deserved to win the game but there are aspects we need to do better."
— Charles Watts (@charles_watts) February 29, 2020
According to BBC Sport, Arteta also outlined the ‘disappointed’ feeling at the club after the side’s Europa League exit:
“We trained today, we were all very down, frustrated and disappointed,” he said.
“The first message to them was that I am right behind them, I said ‘thank you for the attitude’ – they tried, tried and tried again and deserved to win.
“We can fall and we can have disappointments but it is how we react individually and collectively.”
Arsenal are still in the FA Cup and all eyes are on Arteta and his team selection for their next game against Portsmouth in the FA Cup.
The London club are languishing in 10th place in the Premier League table and play Manchester City next in the league after their 5th Round FA Cup tie against Portsmouth on Monday night.
The Gunners find themselves 8 points adrift of rivals Chelsea in the race for top four in the Premier League, the Emirates outfit are also three points behind rivals Spurs who are 6th.
Arsenal are just about holding onto the 10th spot, with the Gunners just one point ahead of 11th placed Everton.