{"id":393066,"date":"2026-04-15T08:36:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T08:36:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/393066\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T08:36:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T08:36:09","slug":"no-fear-pure-fire-mikel-arteta-rallies-wounded-arsenal-before-sporting-test-arsenal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/393066\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018No fear. Pure fire\u2019: Mikel Arteta rallies wounded Arsenal before Sporting test | Arsenal"},"content":{"rendered":"

There was a dramatic pause when Mikel Arteta was asked what he wants from the Arsenal supporters against Sporting on Wednesday evening in the second leg of their Champions League<\/a> quarter-final.<\/p>\n

After his attempts to rouse them before the early kick-off against Bournemouth at the weekend by telling them to \u201cbring your lunch\u201d backfired spectacularly with a costly home defeat that ended with some fans booing the Premier League leaders off the pitch, this time the message was more considered.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo fear. Pure fire,\u201d said the Arsenal<\/a> manager. \u201cThat\u2019s what I want to see from the players, from the people, from myself. That\u2019s it. Go for it because the opportunity is unbelievable. We are in April, we have an incredible opportunity ahead of us. Let\u2019s confront it, let\u2019s go for it by really putting absolutely everything into it.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a week that the Spaniard\u2019s ability to get Arsenal over the line has been called into serious question after three successive Premier League runners-up finishes, Arteta seemed at pains to insist that it is business as usual despite three defeats in their past four matches. Crisis? What crisis? Yet considering that they had only lost three times in their previous 49 games in all competitions, with Manchester City breathing down their necks again and major doubts about when talisman Bukayo Saka will play again due to an achilles issue, this surely ranks as the biggest challenge Arteta has faced since taking over in 2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a big disappointment and a hard one to take,\u201d he reflected on the defeat by Bournemouth<\/a> that left City within striking distance before Sunday\u2019s showdown at the Etihad Stadium. \u201cEspecially losing at home when we had the opportunity to make that gap bigger and bring more certainty and get into this week in the best possible manner. What we are trying to achieve is difficult, is challenging, is bumpy at times and it\u2019s supposed to be like this. So you have to confront it and what I basically said: \u2018Guys, we are trying to do something in this competition that hasn\u2019t been done in the history of the club in 140 years.\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n

Arteta was referring to the possibility of Arsenal reaching back-to-back semi-finals in the Champions League for the first time, although he mistakenly thought that this season is the first time they had made it to three successive quarter-finals \u2013 a feat that was also managed when Ars\u00e8ne Wenger was in charge between 2008 and 2010. To reach the last four, where they would face Atl\u00e9tico Madrid, Arsenal must still get past a Sporting side that could easily have got something out of last week\u2019s first leg in Portugal had it not been for the heroics of David Raya<\/a> in goal.<\/p>\n

David Raya\u2019s heroics set up Arsenal\u2019s 1-0 win at Sporting in the first leg. Photograph: Ricardo Rocha\/ZUMA Press Wire\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

Ten victories from their 11 matches so far in this competition including five wins at the Emirates Stadium should give them confidence, although Arteta did not enjoy the suggestion that his comments before the Bournemouth game may have increased tension among the home supporters.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never mentioned a cup final, but I think obviously the importance of every game, we know what it is,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve done the same in September, in October, in November, in the Champions League last year. I think the outcome of what you are trying to achieve at the end, or the success or failure of your intention, is based on a result. And you have to accept that, because this is football.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cChanging the narrative\u201d is another of Arteta\u2019s favourite sayings and, in the absence of Saka<\/a> for the foreseeable future, Eberechi Eze could have a vital role to play if they are to hold off City\u2019s challenge. The England forward scored the crucial opener against Bayer Leverkusen in the second leg in the last round and is capable of providing the creativity that Arsenal have been lacking so badly in recent weeks. He defended Arteta and has no doubt that they can still end the season with silverware.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe boss speaks well, and is passionate and you can see the fire that he has in his eyes and his mind. That is being pushed around the whole training ground,\u201d Eze said. \u201cWe know the opportunity we have and we know what is at stake, what is possible and we have an opportunity to make history as a club. Regardless of what people say outside, it is about us here and what we are doing and we believe massively, and we have so much confidence in what we are doing. That has been the main message: to focus on what we are doing and letting go of all the noise outside.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked whether the scar tissue of recent failures is affecting some of Arsenal\u2019s players, the \u00a367.5m summer signing added: \u201cFrom what I can see the team has so much belief and so much confidence. It is one thing to have bad experiences, but what you do with them and how you move forward from them is more important. I see a team full of guys who are ready to help. The boys that have come in this summer are ready to help but the mentality is\u00a0strong.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There was a dramatic pause when Mikel Arteta was asked what he wants from the Arsenal supporters against…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":393067,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,46,105],"class_list":["post-393066","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393066","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=393066"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393066\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/393067"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=393066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=393066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=393066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}