04 August 2023 , 23:00
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Mikel Arteta has revealed that he considered his future over the summer in the wake of Arsenal's failure to win the Premier League title last season.
The Spaniard saw his side emerge as surprise title contenders last term and even headed into the final weeks of the campaign with a healthy five-point advantage over Manchester City. But the Gunners blew that lead by dropping points in three consecutive matches against Liverpool, West Ham and Southampton: a run which presented City with the perfect opportunity to retain their title.
And Arteta has now admitted that Arsenal's late implosion left him questioning his role during the early portion of his end of season break.
Speaking ahead of Sunday's Community Shield final, Arteta said: "The first few weeks, very tough. The first thing you have to do is look in the mirror and understand - is there something that you should have done better or differently? If that is the case then learn from it.
"Judge yourself: 'Are you still the right person to drive the club, the team, forwards in the way that you want and do you have that energy and that belief that you want to do it?'. It took a big reflection, but the answer is yes and I feel with a lot of energy and positiveness."
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Arsenal's nightmare run at the business end of the campaign proved to be fatal to their hopes of claiming a first domestic crown since 2004. And Arteta went on to admit that his side "should have won" the trio of games that ended up dashing their title dreams.
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Mikel Arteta was left questioning his role at Arsenal in the summer (Football Daily)He added: "We had games that we didn't win, especially the three draws that we had when momentum shifted. We should have won those games and we had enough to win those games - it was in our hands.
"They were key moments when we just weren't ruthless enough, clinical enough, didn't have the luck or we made certain mistakes that allowed that to happen. We have to recognise that as well."
Sunday's meeting with Manchester City in the Community Shield is an early opportunity for Arsenal and Arteta to extract a measure of revenge on Pep Guardiola and co.
The season opener, which will be played at Wembley, takes place less than a week before the Gunners' opening league fixture against Nottingham Forest.
Arteta has been backed once again in the transfer market in a bid to sustain Arsenal's return to the upper echelon of the Premier League, with Declan Rice, Jurrien Timber and Kai Havertz all arriving at the Emirates for a total outlay of more then £200million.
The Gunners will also play Champions League football next season for the first time since the 2016/17 campaign after finishing in the top-four.