‘I was KILLING myself' – Mikel Arteta launches furious rant at Arsenal players despite second-half Anfield comeback
The Gunners boss sent an important message to his squad
MIKEL ARTETA slammed the performance of his team after coming back from behind to draw with Liverpool.
The Gunners conceded two goals in two minutes and found themselves 2-0 down at the break.
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Mikel Arteta was critical of his side despite coming from bending to draw 2-2
Credit: EPA
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The Gunners boss was left 'upset' by the performance in the first 25 minutes
Credit: AP
They fought back with goals from Gabriel Martinelli and Mikel Merino, who was later sent off after picking up two yellow cards.
And although Arteta was pleased with the reaction of his players, he fumed that they gave themselves a mountain to climb.
The Gunners boss admitted there were "a lot of parts" of his team's display which upset him.
He said: "A lot of parts, especially defending the standards that we have and the errors after we gave the ball away.
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"Very far off it. Really upset, yeah we had a reaction. I hate reaction I like action.
"I was really really upset.
"What I saw in the first 25 minutes, 35 minutes. Some of the actions...I was killing myself."
Arteta was asked about the psychological impact Arsenal's mid-week Champions League exit at PSG may have had on his players.
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But he sent a message to his squad - telling them they had to prove they are the best of the rest after missing out on the league title to Liverpool.
Arteta also refused to put his team's performance down to fatigue or injuries, which have had a big impact this season.
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But even ahead of the match he admitted his squad was short of the quality necessary to win the Prem.
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He said: "There are a lot of factors. We knew from the beginning of the season that our squad was super short.
"Being super short we had some players that had a high probability of getting injured, because that's what they had in the last few seasons.
"So we knew that and we cannot do anything about it.
"But we will do everything that we can to improve the team and especially improve the players that we already have.
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"Whatever the market offers to give us a better chance to win for sure we will try to do it."
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