Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta politely congratulated rivals Manchester City for winning the English Premier League title on Saturday, but nothing could ease the pain of his team, which had led the race for a long time before stumbling at the crucial stage. It’s a really sad day, we screwed up. He added: “I congratulate Manchester City, they are champions and they deserve to win. I’m sorry because we gave faith and hope to our ability to succeed but we failed to do so and that is my responsibility.”
And the Spanish manager continued: Today we should have played better, we let them score, between April and May you need 24 players at their best, full of confidence and readiness, for many reasons we did not have it. Arteta, who worked as an assistant to Guardiola at City, had a remarkable transformation at Arsenal, who comfortably finished second in the world’s strongest league competition.
And this season it has held the top spot for 248 days, overtaking any other team that failed to win the Premier League title. And he continued: It was an amazing journey, for ten months we competed with City and were ahead of them for a long time, we strived to achieve sporting achievements, but we did not succeed. “We have learned enormous lessons, a lot has changed at the club and we have made great strides, but the jewel in the crown is winning the title and we stumbled.” And stressed that it is too early to talk about goals for next season, saying: “Today is only sadness.