Mikel Arteta Challenges Arsenal to Play With Three Things to Beat ‘Fragile’ Mindset

The Gunners are chasing trophies in four different competitions this season.

Mental strength has to underpin performances. | Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC/Getty Images

Mikel Arteta has called on Arsenal to play with “courage, enjoyment and conviction” for the rest of 2025–26 if the Gunners are to realise ambitions of becoming Premier League champions for the first time in 22 years—as well as hunting an unprecedented Quadruple among all English clubs.

“We have earned the right to be in a great position in four competitions, and in the next four months we’re going to live and play with enjoyment, with a lot of courage and with the conviction that we’re going to win it,” the manager explained, looking ahead optimistically in a difficult moment.

“This is going to be the mindset and where we’re going to put the energy. I’m just hoping that everybody that is related to this club, especially our supporters, jump on that boat because this is the way that we’re going to live the next four months. We deserve to live like this.”

Arsenal collapsed to a 3–2 defeat to Manchester United on Sunday, seeing their grip on first place in the Premier League starting to loosen. But Arteta said the response to a team meeting in the wake of that setback has been “encouraging and beautiful,” which bodes well.

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Gabriel, Saliba Must Overcome Fragility Infecting Arsenal

If Arsenal are to avoid falling short at the final hurdle, which has been the case in the Premier League in each of the last three seasons, they need to be ruthless in the final stretch. That is easier said than done for a team yet to get over the line and without major silverware of any kind in almost six years, but it starts with pushing out the perceived anxiety creeping in.

Former Premier League-winning defender Phil Jones told Sports Illustrated that centre back pairing Gabriel and William Saliba appeared “fragile” in the loss.

“I thought they looked nervous,” he added. “I thought there was a lack of a relationship between the two. They sensed a fear in the stadium, that anxiety. They weren’t poor by any stretch but they looked fragile and a bit weak at times. It is the most fractious I have seen those two.”

Jones suggests that the “fear and desperation” in regard to the Premier League title is “infectious” and spread through the Arsenal team when Manchester United equalised in the first half.

Refocusing to overcome that will require listening carefully to Arteta’s message.

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Historic Quadruple on the Line

Leeds at Elland Road will be a physically tough opponent. | Zach Forster/MI News/NurPhoto/Getty Images

But the fragility has been laid bare and the Gunners will be tested routinely over the coming months. The Premier League resumes with a challenging trip to a hostile Elland Road on Saturday, where Liverpool met a frustrating 0–0 setback on New Year’s Day and Mohamed Salah was pushed over the edge, with Chelsea convincingly beaten last month.

Then, if Arsenal are to become the first English club to complete a Quadruple, they need to see through the Carabao Cup semi-final. The Gunners hold a one-goal aggregate lead from the first leg at Stamford Bridge, but Chelsea could still conceivably overturn that deficit if there remains any shred of doubt or nerves within the Arsenal ranks.

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