Mikel Arteta takes blame for Arsenal's late-season collapse

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has blamed himself for the Gunners' poor form towards the end of the current season.

Having blown expectations out of the water for the vast majority of the campaign, Arsenal lost their grip on the Premier League title with a run of just two wins in their last eight games in the competition, handing the trophy to Manchester City after a 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest.

Ahead of the season finale against Wolves on Sunday, Arteta urged his players to look at their own performances across their run-in and insisted he would be doing the same.

"First of all, [we need to] be critical with ourselves, first with myself," Arteta began. "My job is to get the best out of 24 players that we have available and I haven't been able to do that.

"There are still players who have great potential and we haven't been able to do that. There are different reasons. Whether it's injuries, whether it's Game time, whether I haven't had the opportunity or I haven't been able to play them enough.

"We have to look for those margins because our job is to make them better."

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Arteta added: "We are reflecting on [how to improve]. There are a lot of things that have been done really well across the club, across the first team staff and around the players but in this league it’s not enough.

"We have to dig in to see what the players are going to be needing and what the club is going to be needing for next season, so we can provide the best possible chance for those players to perform, get the best out of them for ten-and-a-half months in a really exciting season. That’s the thought process that we have to go again and nail it again."

Arsenal are looking to avoid ending the campaign on a run of three straight defeats, with Arteta keen to give the fans something to cheer about after a disappointing few weeks.

"Now is about finishing the season in style and providing a great performance and a victory in front of our people," the boss continued. "Show our gratitude and receive a lot of the incredible energy that they have given us throughout the season and start to build for the next season.

"We have to wrap it up in the best possible way, it’s been some journey full of emotions and something to look forward to which at the end we haven’t achieved. Looking with a bit of perspective, there are a lot of things not only on the field that happened at the club that deserves a lot of credit for a lot of people."

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