Every word Mikel Arteta said on title race heartbreak, going again next season and Saka injury
What are your emotions at the end of the season?
First of all congrats to Manchester City for winning the Premier League. Unbelievable what they've done since December. We've been on an incredible journey with every performance has been at the highest we've seen and still it wasn't enough. This is the level.
Today, some mixed emotions. First of all, to be really proud of the staff and those players. They've done an incredible job and they have pushed every limit and every margin that we could to try to win this Premier League. Unfortunately it [was] a bit short and we couldn't deliver the prize that we wanted.
You called on the supporters to demand more from you…
It's the only way. Now we see them there and we are there and they took it away from us. It's the second season. There's only one way to do it - you have to be more determined, you have to be more ambitious, you have to have a lot of courage and push every limit in everything that we have. That's the next step.
What do you think the difference was this year?
Everybody available in the crucial moment of the season. Huge difference.
Is there a moment that stands out?
For sure, Aston Villa at home. In the first half it should have been 4-0. Maybe the story would have been different. What happened last Tuesday, maybe we could have been champions. These are the margins that are so, so, so small. That's the credit that the club and the team should take. We're doing this against the best team in the history of the Premier League by far.
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Man City, 93, 98 and 91 - does it require 100 points to win title?
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.
Summer window is coming up. What do you need?
Rest. Have a beautiful holiday. That is what we need first because everybody has put every single drop of energy and passion that we had and now we need to rest. And when we decompress and rest and think, we'll start to think with more clarity.
Plans in motion? Not major surgery needed?
Well, first one and most important is how we are going to get these players to a different level. That is my first job and after that. If visualising that, we still don't have enough to do that, for sure we will have to do everything we can to fulfil those gaps.
Healthy for football that you need so many points? 89 normally enough?
Yeah, when you look in the last 15 to 20 years of this league, the competition wasn't like it is today and for sure [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.
Do you sense players are hungry for more?
Yeah but I had the same in pre-season. When we got together and saw what was happening, players taking a different level, another year together, some big signings. It was a huge belief in the squad that we can go all the way in any competition. We have experienced the Champions League for the first time in seven years, we are right on it in the Premier League. Now we have to continued to be at that level.
What do you mean by players going to a different level?
In everything. The way they compete, the way they talk about the future, the way they talk about why they are capable of doing what we're capable of doing as a team. I sense a real belief there and they are really determined. Before I didn't have that feeling of we really want to win and we're going to go toe-to-toe and look in the eyes of every opponent. Now I feel that.
Is it hard to be consistently motivated?
No, I don't think so. We're still there to win it and that's the motivation.
What are your plans tonight?
Want to come with me and have a look? I have my family here and a few friends so dinner with them. And spend some time with the staff and the players together. That's what I'm going to do.
You said "we'll win it" - why so confident?
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.
Will Bukayo be OK for the Euros?
Yeah.