Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta congratulated Manchester City on becoming the 2022/23 Premier League champions after his side’s 1-0 defeat by Nottingham Forest guaranteed the Spaniard’s former club a seventh title.
"It’s a really sad day and there are a lot of difficult emotions,” Arteta said in his post-match press conference. "Obviously because we lost the game and we lost the championship after 10 and a half months fighting for it.
"I know that we have built an illusion, enthusiasm and belief that we could go all the way and win it, and we fell short. So congratulations to Manchester City, they’re the champions and they deserve to be the champions. They’ve done it for 38 games and we haven’t been able to do that."
Arsenal's slump in form
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After Arsenal lost for the third time in five matches and dropped points for the sixth time in the last eight matches, Arteta suggested his players ran out of steam.
"When you come to April and May, you need 24 players that are available, fit and playing at their best, full of confidence and ready to go,” he said. “For many reasons, we haven’t had that.
"Then there are key moments in the league that define whether the moment goes there or there, and we didn’t have those margins going on our side. I think that’s the reason that we lost it."
Arteta identified conceding a late equaliser in the 2-2 draw at Liverpool that started the slump in form as key to the fading challenge, exacerbated in the next fixture by Bukayo Saka missing a penalty when 2-1 up at West Ham United, with the match ending in a draw.
"It started with what happened at Anfield in the 90th minute and we give it away and then you go to West Ham and you can make it 3-1 and that’s going to change," Arteta said.
"We have conceded a lot of goals, we have given 16 goals away in those matches, it’s a lot, you know a lot, you cannot sustain that. To win in this league you have to be exceptional at everything, because there are no margins.
"That team doesn’t give you any margins and we have extended those margins too much and that’s how we lost the league."
💬 "We need to show a lot of appreciation and gratitude for everything that they’ve done for the team, they’ve been incredible and the belief has transformed the team, individually and collectively."
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) May 20, 2023
The boss on our incredible support this season 👇