‘My responsibility’ - Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta reacts to Nottingham Forest loss as Man City win title

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has congratulated Manchester City on winning the Premier League after seeing his side fall short of his former club. The Gunners’ 1-0 loss away at Nottingham Forest on Saturday means the trophy will be heading to the Etihad Stadium for a third year in a row.

Pep Guardiola’s side are back in action on Sunday afternoon at home to Chelsea but their focus will now be on winning the FA Cup and Champions League as they set sights on the treble.

Arsenal gave it a good go this term but ultimately their lack of depth in the squad has come back to bite them. In addition, their failures to hang on to their 2-0 leads at Liverpool and West Ham, as well as drawing at home to Southampton, didn’t do them any favours either.

After their loss at Forest, Arteta said: “It’s a really sad day and there are a lot of difficult emotions. Obviously because we lost the game and we lost the championship after 10 and a half months fighting for it. I know that we have built an illusion, enthusiasm and belief that we could go all the way and win it, and we fell short.

“So congratulations to Manchester City, they’re the champions and they deserve to be the champions. They’ve done it for 38 games and we haven’t been able to do that. That’s it, and from my side I apologise because we have generated belief that we could do it, and at the end the team wasn’t able to do it, and that is my responsibility.”

He added: “Today is just sadness, you see a lot of people who have put so much work, so much belief and so many hours and I am sad for them because I wanted to find a way.

“We wanted to squeeze everything that we had out of that group and find alternatives and ways to reach certain levels, and when we don’t we try in other ways. We fell short and it is my job and my responsibility and I have to analyse that and think.”

Arsenal need to bolster their ranks this summer to ensure they can mount another push for top spot next year. They are back in the Champions League as well so will need to be able to deal with the number of games that will be coming their way.