Arteta branded Arsenal stars

Mikel Arteta furiously branded his Arsenal players "f****** embarrassing" after the Gunners spectacularly blew their chances of qualifying for the Champions League in the dying embers of last season.

Arteta led Arsenal through a resurgent Premier League campaign in 2021-22, and it looked certain that the Gunners would secure a top-four finish heading into their final three games of the term. But a humiliating 3-0 loss to rivals Tottenham Hotspur and shock 2-0 defeat at Newcastle United fatally dented their chances, allowing Spurs to pip them to fourth place.

And it was after the north-east nightmare when Arteta lost his temper with his stars in the dressing room, and his post-match rant was captured as part of Amazon 's All or Nothing documentary. The final two episodes of the eight-part series, which air online on Tuesday, pull back the curtain Arsenal's remarkable collapse.

Within the bowels of St James' Park after the Gunners produced a limp performance in a must-win game, Arteta ferociously declared: "It doesn't matter what I say, it doesn't matter what you say, now it's too late. They were 10,000 times better than us today. In everything, with earning the right to play, we didn't win a f****** duel, we didn't win a second ball, we were horrible with the f****** ball.

"With the organisation, we have nothing, guys. No-thing. So now, shut your mouth and eat it. We could have conceded eight goals. If you see their chances (now), you will cry. You will cry the way we have competed. It's not that we competed (badly), we didn't compete at all in the game. It's f****** embarrassing to come here and work the way we have done it. Embarrassing, guys.

"What happened today is f****** unacceptable. And if you accept something like this, you live in a different world, guys. A different world."

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The Spaniard then sat down for 15 seconds to compose himself before continuing his tirade. "Don't worry, I will face the people (in the media)," Arteta added. "Today it is hard to defend you, guys, hard. I will take all the s*** again, no worries.

"But we prepare to start tomorrow to start training, to be there, because we have our fans there. You never know what happens in football. They (Tottenham) might lose at Norwich. You don't know," before storming out.

Unfortunately for Arsenal, Antonio Conte 's Spurs ran riot on the final day and consolidated fourth place with a 5-0 win. The Gunners did their job by thrashing Everton 5-1, but it wasn't enough to avoid competing in the Europa League this season.