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| Art echo: Mikel scored the consolation goal last week and is keen for revenge in this speedy rematch |
The Spaniard is keen to put
memories of the 5-1 mauling behind him by knocking Liverpool out of the FA Cup
Mikel Arteta is planning a double dose of revenge as wobbling Arsenal
prepare to keep fighting for silverware on three fronts.
The Spanish midfield man admits he is
desperate to banish memories of last weekend’s ‘car crash’ 5-1 defeat at Liverpool when
the sides stage a rapid re-match in today’s FA Cup tie at the Emirates.
Then on Wednesday, the Gunners face a Champions League last-16 clash with
Bayern Munich – who demolished them 3-1 at the Emirates at the same stage last
season and have since hired Arteta’s former Barcelona mentor Pep Guardiola as
manager.
First though, Arsenal must banish the demons of their Anfield nightmare,
when Liverpool stunned the Gunners with a four-goal blast in the first 20
minutes.
And Arteta, 31, said: “We have been very
solid throughout the season but we’ve had two big car crashes at Manchester
City, where we lost 6-3, and at Liverpool .
“Mentally those results have been very hard to take. Everybody knew that it
wasn’t good enough what happened last weekend at Anfield. I can’t wait for
Sunday’s game, I can’t wait to play Liverpool again. I want to take last
weekend out of my system and get a very different result.
“When something like that happens and it gets in your system, you know you
have to manage your feelings sometimes because when you try too hard to avenge
a result it cannot be good. But we have tried to recover, to speak about it and
to analyse what went wrong.
“I have never experienced anything like that first 20 minutes before in my
career. It was soft.
“We conceded to two set-pieces really early in the game and after that we
had to open up against, for me, the two best strikers in the Premier League at
the moment in Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge. With their pace they exploited
that really well. After 20 minutes when it is 4-0, it is a big hurt.
“It was completely different when they came here earlier in the season and
we won 2-0 though.
“We were the better team on the day, we were much better than them, so
hopefully Sunday will be much more similar to the first game than the second.”
Arteta claims Wednesday’s 0-0 draw against Manchester United was a major
improvement on the Anfield debacle but admits Arsene Wenger’s men were
frustrated not to return to the top of the League with Chelsea having been held
to a draw at West Brom, while Manchester City’s game against Sunderland was
postponed.
The Spaniard said: “We had to put it right against Manchester United and we
had a good performance.
“But yes it was frustrating. We had a great chance to go back to the top of
the League as Chelsea dropped points – but I think we showed a very different
character against United, very different levels of commitment than what we did
at Liverpool. That is the most positive thing we can take out of the United
game. We gave everything we had. We had the chances to win and I think we were
unlucky not to.”
Arteta was a midfield understudy to Guardiola as a teenager at Barcelona
but never played for the first team at the Nou Camp.
He insists that no other manager in world football sees football like his
old mentor Guardiola.
Arsenal defeated Bayern 2-0 in the Allianz Arena in last season’s second
leg but Arteta knows they must be more solid on Wednesday.
Arteta said: “Our schedule is very tough but that means that we are in
three competitions. We are fighting for trophies and that is what we want.
“We are one point away from the top of the table in February and anybody
had said that at the start of the season, we would all have said ‘yes, we are
happy with that’.
“Yes we take heart from the second leg in Munich, hopefully it is going to
be a very different game to the first leg. We want it to be tighter. We must be
more solid.
“But I know Bayern’s manager well and I know they will be ready and 100 per
cent up for it.”
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