Mikel Arteta reacts to Arsenal adversity - 'I love it!'

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta is loving the challenges his team has been faced with this season.

Brighton & Hove Albion FC v Arsenal FC - Premier League
Brighton & Hove Albion FC v Arsenal FC - Premier League | Bryn Lennon/GettyImages

Arsenal has had its fair share of adversity already this season, but Mikel Arteta isn't backing down from the challenge.

We are a little over halfway through the league season, and Arsenal has already been dealt a tough hand in various ways.

The most notable one has been the injuries with a host of starting players in Bukayo Saka, Ben White, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Ethan Nwaneri and Raheem Sterling all having time on the sidelines.

Plus we add in the virus that Kai Havertz and skipper Martin Odegaard are battling and it's a tough time right now.

If you so choose, you can add in the very dubious calls that have gone against the Gunners this season, a list that seems to grow every week, but let's stick to the injury side of it, shall we?

For Arteta, while some might look at the injury and sickness issues as an excuse for poor play and feel sorry for themselves, the Spaniard is relishing the challenges that have been presented to his team this season.

"I love it," Arteta said via arsenal.com. "We are in all the competitions; we are where we want to be in most of them. Obviously, in the league for a lot of circumstances, we are not where we want to be which is top, I understand that. That willingness to be better every single day to try to improve and not look for excuses because in anything that you do, you look for excuses, you are going to find them. These are challenges, these are situations that we are facing, and we are trying to do the very best to overcome them and still be a really good team."

Bukayo Saka
Crystal Palace FC v Arsenal FC - Premier League | Alex Pantling/GettyImages

So that is one way to look at it and if you want to get through a tough patch like this, it's the only way.

With so many things going wrong, Arteta is remaining upbeat. His team has met every challenge head-on so far and is still in decent enough form, too, unbeaten in their last 13 games in all competitions.

So, while things seem bad, they could be a whole lot worse for Arsenal, and with Newcastle up next in the Carabao Cup semi-finals, the Gunners have a chance to get one foot closer to Wembley with a good performance.

They'll be at home, injury-ravaged and possibly dealing with illness against a rampaging Newcastle team.

But Mikel wouldn't have it any other way.

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