Mikel Arteta believes his job at Arsenal is tougher than when Arsene Wenger took over in 1996.
Premier League champions, Liverpool were beaten by the Gunners 2-1 on Wednesday night in spectacular fashion.
Two key errors from Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker ended up costing the Reds as Alexandre Lacazette took advantage to score one and assist one to Reiss Nelson. Arteta, however, outlined the clear gap there still exists between Arsenal and Liverpool.
“I think the context is different,” said the Spaniard who took over from Unai Emery last December. “I think the competition in the country right now is much harder than it was before.
“Arsene did some incredible things and he brought a new philosophy, new ideas to the country, and he was very successful. I’ve done nothing yet. I have everything to do. We will need support, we will need belief, and we need to go in the direction, it doesn’t matter what happens.”
Arteta continued, “It’s massive. We only need to look at the difference between the two teams today. The gap is enormous. The gap in many areas we cannot improve in two months. But the gap in the accountability, the energy, the commitment and the fight is now equal. Before, it wasn’t like this. I’m very proud of that.
“The rest will take some time, but at least we’ve got that now. My message to the players is, with that, we can create something.”
Arteta also stressed on the importance of recruitment this summer. He took Liverpool’s rebuilding case as an example for Arsenal to follow but is unsure of the investments that might follow.
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