Mikel Arteta’s determined reaction to Arsenal’s 3-0 thrashing at the hands of Aston Villa should give Gunners fans hope that history will not be repeated any time soon, Emile Heskey said while speaking exclusively to HITC.
Arteta is not a coach who hides.
After Arsenal produced a performance worryingly reminiscent of the dark days under Unai Emery on Sunday, Pep Guardiola’s steely eyed protégé wasted no time pinning the blame on himself.
While the likes of Jose Mourinho are often lambasted for hanging their players out to dry after a defeat, Arteta sounded like a man desperate to put things right and learn from his most disappointing day in the job.
“This is totally my fault, I am responsible for that, to make sure the team performs and competes at the highest level every three days,” the Spaniard told Arsenal’s official website.
“Today I haven’t done that, so obviously it is my fault.”
And Heskey, a man who played under the likes of Sven Goran Eriksson, Gerard Houllier and Steve Bruce during a storied career, feels that Arsenal fans can take some positivity out of Arteta’s frank approach.
“(Arteta) came out and said he takes responsibility for the way they shaped up and everything. One thing about Arteta is that he doesn’t shirk his responsibilities,” the 62-time England international said.
“He put that formation, that system together and it just didn’t work. He just got it wrong. I found (his response) very open.
“He’s not making excuses or blaming people or whatever. He’s just said ‘no I’ve got it wrong, lets go back to the drawing board and put it right’.
“It’s great that (Arteta) is taking responsibility and saying ‘no, it’s my fault’ and wanting to put it right. That’s one of the major things that I think the Arsenal fans would be happy with.”
Arsenal were ripped to shreds on their own soil by a Villa side who maybe even bettered their performance in October’s 7-2 shellacking of Liverpool, with Ross Barkley, Jack Grealish and two-goal Ollie Watkins running rings around the home defence.
Worryingly for an Arsenal side on a run of four defeats in eight league games, Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United are likely to attack them in a similarly buccaneering style after the international break.
Another defeat and serious questions will start to be asked of Arteta.
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