Mikel Arteta spoke to the media after Arsenal surprised everyone by beating Manchester City 2-0 to made Wembley and another FA Cup final.
It took Mikel Arteta just two goes to beat Pep Guardiola and while an argument can be made that Liverpool lost against us on Wednesday night, make no mistake – this was an Arsenal win.
Here’s what Arteta had to say after the game:
Arteta on trusting the process…
Yes, we are really happy for what happened in the last four or five days, to beat probably the best two teams in Europe is not an easy thing to do. A lot of credit goes to the players for what they are doing and the performances and the level of fight and decision-making they are showing on the pitch.
Arteta on if the experience of Wembley is different without fans…
Yes, one of the best things about Wembley is the atmosphere before the game, during the game and all of the protocols that are in place on the day, but we didn’t have them. Obviously we miss our fans a lot, we wanted to have a beautiful day with them but I’m sure they will have enjoyed that from home.
Arteta on the need to spend in the summer and whether winning the FA Cup could help with that…
Listen, we have had a lot of conversations and we always agreed with the plan that we have in place, and the current vision is very clear. It’s about the possibilities that we are going to have and at the moment we have some uncertainties. The way we finish the season, if we are in Europe or we win it [the FA Cup], it will obviously help because financially we will be stronger and that’s why we have to be a little bit patient.
Arteta on the celebrations in the dressing room…
They are so happy because we had a big task in front of us today against such a big team and we’ve done it, so they are really proud. The chemistry we are generating between them is fantastic and the way they are fighting for each other too. At the moment I have the feeling that I can play any of those players and they are going to respond and they are going to perform. We changed a few players from when we played on Wednesday and when we played today, and look at the way that they are performing.
Arteta on whether he would rather face Manchester United or Chelsea…
I’m going to watch the game tomorrow and use that game to get something out of it. I don’t know, it’s not our decision. We’ve done what we had to do today and now we need to prepare for the final against one of those opponents.
Arteta on whether nights like this will help convince Aubameyang to stay…
I think it will help everybody. These beautiful moments are always better than the bad ones and when I look at him and speak to him he sounds pretty convinced, but obviously if he can see the success and direction that we’re taking is the right one, I think he will be more positive about it, yes.
Arteta on Aubameyang’s tweet about his goalscoring record against big teams…
Yeah, but it’s like it with David [Luiz]. Big players [get criticised] more than any others and even when they do well, people are going to criticise you, but he showed today on the pitch. Not from talking, but on the pitch.