Mikel Arteta gives spiky response to team selection question and sends message to Arsenal players after damaging defeat

Mikel Arteta gave a stinging response to a reporter following a question about Arsenal’s team selection for their defeat to Aston Villa.

The Gunners lost 2-0 at the Emirates on Sunday afternoon, dealing a major blow to their Premier League title chances.

Leon Bailey opened the scoring for Villa in the second half before Ollie Watkins scored his 19th goal of the season to secure the victory.

Arteta’s side are now two points behind Manchester City in second place and the race for first place is no longer in the Gunners’ hands.

The result left fans and players with their heads in their hands at full time, and it will likely have a huge impact come the end of the season.

Arteta was understandably unhappy with the result and took issue with a journalist asking him about his team selection during his post-match press conference.

Leandro Trossard was preferred to Gabriel Martinelli in the starting line-up, a decision which was questioned by a journalist during Arteta’s press conference.

The reporter asked: “Why did you put Trossard in the lineup today instead of Gabriel Martinelli?

“Is Gabriel not fit enough for a 90-minute match?”

In response, Arteta shrugged with a puzzled face and replied: “Because I’m the manager and I’m the one who decides the line-up.”

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That’s all the Spaniard had to say to that question as he felt the answer was enough to explain why he chose the team he did.

The Arsenal boss also questioned whether his side’s season could end after the defeat to Villa.

Arteta said: “If a result achieves that goal, then we are not strong enough. It’s very simple.

“We had one of the best performances of the whole season in the first half against a very good team.

“It should have been three, four or more. It didn’t happen.

“In the second half the dynamic changed. We couldn’t control and generate what we did in the first half. We conceded two very bad goals and we lost the match.

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“Congratulate the opponent and stand up. Now is the time to stand up and be counted.

“When you win and win and win for four months, it’s very easy to do. The time to do it is now.”

Arsenal will have the chance to bounce back by securing a place in the Champions League semi-finals with an away win at Bayern Munich on Wednesday, live on talkSPORT.

In the Premier League, the Gunners’ title hopes are no longer in their hands and they will now likely have to win their remaining six games.

Wolves next meet on April 20 before two huge clashes with rivals Chelsea and Tottenham.