LONDON (Reuters) – Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta feels frustrated and dejected about his side’s faltering season but has the backing of the club’s board as he attempts to turn things around.
Arsenal upset London rivals Chelsea 3-1 on Saturday to record a first Premier League win in nearly two months, ending a seven-match winless run.
Arteta earned some respite with the victory and his 15th-placed team will look to build on that performance when they face lower-ranked sides, starting with Tuesday’s trip to 16th-placed Brighton & Hove Albion.
“Results-wise in the last few weeks we have all been suffering, I have been suffering,” Arteta said. “I feel very responsible for that. The worst feeling is because I want to do so well… and to move as quickly as we possibly can.
“In order to do that we need to win football matches… When I don’t, I feel like I am letting the club down. It is draining, it is frustrating and it is painful.
“When you are frustrated and sad, you have to find all the time somewhere to do that. My way has been my family and all the people that are here with me at the club, the board – they have all been super supportive and that has helped me a lot.”
Arteta, who led Arsenal to FA Cup glory last season, said he second-guessed his managerial methods during the poor run, their worst start to a season since 1974-75.
“I question myself every day,” he said. “Since I arrived here, first of all I had to analyse really well what was happening, what we can and cannot do.
“It is a 24/7 job. A lot of issues and then when results hit you like that you can sometimes not find the right reasons to understand why we are losing matches. But it is the beauty of this game, to find ways of doing things in a different way.”
