Arteta admits ‘winning dirty’ is part of the plan

Jurgen Klopp recently admitted that his side collected ‘dirty points’ when beating Atletico Madrid in the Champions League in midweek, and Mikel Arteta admitted that this is something that his Arsenal side will ‘have to do’.

The Reds lost a 2-0 advantage when Antoine Griezmann managed to claw his side back level before half-time. Liverpool then had to weather the storm before the brace-scoring Frenchman got himself sent off for high-foot to the face, before eventually finding the winner thanks to a penalty.

Jurgen Klopp described the win in his post match press conference as ‘three dirty points’, and when Arteta was asked ahead of their clash with Villa whether he agreed if ‘winning dirty’ was important for teams, he responded (via Arsenal.com): “Yes, my focus is to win and play well, and this is what we have to do. “When we were playing well, and in the phases that we were playing well we dominated the game. We generated the chances, and we deserved to win the game.

“The issues come when we don’t start to do that. But when you do that you have to show enough resilience and know how to manage those situations; like we had to do against Brighton in certain moments, and still be able to win the match. Sometimes individuals actions, [such as] a set piece helps you to do that. Of course it’s another way of winning, and it has to be present in the way the team acts and thinks.”

A team that can win ugly is a team that is worthy of winning the division, as those crucial three points when things are not going well seems to be a catalyst for success.

Our time was able to get those victories over Burnley and Norwich last month, but of late we’ve lost our winning feeling, and the longer we go without that, the harder it will be to get back.

Patrick

Watch Super Gooner Dan Smith’s Aston Villa Preview on the Just Arsenal Show on Youtube. He lives and breathes Arsenal