Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has disclosed that he won’t be happy if the team finished this season’s Premier League in 7th position.
He made this known during a press conference ahead of the team’s last home game against Brighton on Sunday.
Arteta admits seventh place and a pass to the Europa Conference League cannot be classified as success but will try to give Arsenal fans something to cheer by finishing the season above rivals Tottenham.
He said: “We have experienced in the last few years how tough being in the Europa League is with the amount of games and the short turnaround all the time in the Premier League.
“There is a lot of history with teams involved in the Europa League, and the negative consequences that has in the Premier League positions. But we have tried to give it the best possible go, we came a little bit short, but this club has to be in Europe.
“Let’s try to finish as high as possible and then after we will determine, once we are involved, what the best way is to do it.”
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Asked whether seventh was good enough for Arsenal, he replied: “No, it’s not where we want to be.”
With one game remaining, however, they have already amassed more points than last season, and Arteta believes he is making progress behind the scenes.
“The fact that we don’t have a title so close to grab because we’re not in the Europa League final makes it difficult to see more positives,” he said. “But we were knocked out in the last-16 of the Europa League last season and a lot of things have been done that were very necessary in this season that are not related to results.
“In the league we have two more points than last season, but it’s nowhere near where we want to be. At the end of the day, we are here to win.”
