After the recent match that ended in a 2-2 draw against Chelsea, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta highlighted the silent atmosphere in the dressing room as a sign of the team’s ambition.
Despite rallying from a two-goal deficit, the Arsenal players seemed to want more, an attitude that Arteta praises.
The manager’s remarks underscore the character and the high expectations that define the Arsenal squad this season.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has expressed that his team’s quiet response in the dressing room after drawing 2-2 with Chelsea reveals a hunger for more, despite the team coming back from a 2-0 deficit.
Arsenal took a dramatic point at Chelsea, ensuring their unbeaten league start continued, which under different circumstances could have been a cause for celebration.
However, according to Arteta, the atmosphere suggested the team “wanted more”.
In the match, Chelsea had established a comfortable 2-0 lead with a first-half penalty scored by Cole Palmer and an early second-half mis-hit cross by Mykhailo Mudryk.
Arteta’s side were not at their best for most of the game.
Yet late goals from Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard managed to level the score, earning Arsenal a point.
Arteta said: “I really liked as well going into the dressing room and it’s really quiet, after drawing 2-2 with Chelsea and coming back from 2-0 down, because I know that they wanted more. That’s the positive.”
Further elaborating on the team’s spirit, Arteta spoke highly of his players’ character, citing their resilience in the face of adversity as a quality he wants to see maintained. “I have no doubt about that. I could see at half time, it was a knife between our teeth and we had to do better and the game was still there for us. We had that belief,” he said.
Arteta continued: “Even with the goal we conceded, we continued to be like this. I loved that about the team and I’m going to demand that from them every single day. This is who we are and the only way to still create a lot of issues with the opponent even when you’re not at your best.”