Mikel Arteta has told his players that they are six games from Champions League Glory and promised: “The most exciting part is now coming.”
Although the tendency of the social media knee dress fears that the season of Arsenal has been destined to switch, Artetas is convinced prior to the formalities of Wednesday evening against PSV Eindhoven far away from their doomed title challenge.
Gunners boss Arteta ran from his TV interview after the game with Sky Sports after the 1-1 draw with Manchester United on Sunday when he was asked if the 15-point gap for running leaders Liverpool was “too much” to bridge. But he was in a more cheerful mood when he enjoyed the prospect of a quarter-final against holders Real Madrid of Atletico if Arsenal can hold on to their 7-1 advantage against PSV of the first stage at the Emirates.
Arteta insists that Arsenal Fear no-one said in the Champions League and he said: “We have done a lot in this competition and the most exciting part can still be seen. That is why we have to make sure that we finish the job tomorrow night to place ourselves in a great position.
“We have been extremely consistent, very efficient and now we have to keep doing it. I am much convinced that we can compete with every team that has been left in the competition, get the best out of ourselves in every detail and define the moment to continue. “
Arteta can afford the luxury of wholesale changes for the second stage, with Ben White and Gabriel Martinelli probably start when they increase their recovery of injury. But he will not take another goal scores for granted and says: “It is unique, but we also have to understand how the game was played a week ago and the fact that everything went the right direction for us from the start.
“We will have to earn the right to go in the same direction, so we are fully focused on that. From the beginning it is a competition where we have a lot of enthusiasm (invested), have done a lot of energy and winning tomorrow brings us in a very good position. “
Raheem Sterling is in line to make a rare start, with the On-Loan Chelsea's solitary goal this season six months ago against Bolton in the League Cup and his barren trawl has the appearance of a player with a clear future behind him. Arteta was the assistant of Pep Guardiola in Manchester City when Sterling was in his Prime, but since then the career of the former English winger has gone into a sharp decline.
The boss of Gunners said: “Time is flying in football. Moving and changing things and you have to do it again. Raz has been incredibly consistent in the last 10 years for the things he has done and now it's all about doing it again.
“What has changed? On a personal level, not so much. But it is clearly different because of the role he now has and what we demand from each other. “What Pep used to demand him is different, because now I am the person who calls the last call.”
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