Arsenal boss admits he questioned his future at the club after last season

Mikel Arteta has admitted he questioned whether he was the right person to continue to lead Arsenal after their disappointing end to last season.

The Gunners were beaten to the Premier League title despite leading the table for 248 days – the most by any side not to claim the trophy in the competition’s history.

A run of just two wins from eight league games across April and May – combined with a 12-match winning streak from City – saw Pep Guardiola’s side overhaul their rivals’ healthy lead atop the table.

Arsenal also failed to come close to success in either the Europa League, FA Cup or Carabao Cup, meaning Arteta’s side ended what had looked a highly promising campaign empty-handed.

Speaking ahead of Sunday’s Community Shield, when Arsenal will renew acquaintances with City at Wembley, Arteta reflected on his reaction to events at the end of last season, saying: “The first few weeks, very tough.

“The first thing you have to do is look in the mirror and understand – is there something that you should have done better or differently? If that is the case then learn from it.

“Judge yourself. Are you still the right person to drive the club, the team, forwards in the way that you want and do you have that energy and that belief that you want to do it?

“It took a big reflection, but the answer is yes and I feel with a lot of energy and positiveness.”

Arsenal were eight points clear of City at the start of April but threw away two-goal leads in successive games against West Ham and Liverpool, allowing both sides to come back and claim draws.

The Gunners’ next match saw them held to a 3-3 home draw by lowly Southampton – who were relegated weeks later – before they were thrashed 4-1 at the Etihad by a rampant City.

That run of results saw Arsenal’s title hopes evaporate and, looking back on those games, Arteta knows his side should have turned the three consecutive draws into wins.

“We had games that we didn’t win, especially the three draws that we had when momentum shifted,” he said. “We should have won those games and we had enough to win those games – it was in our hands.

“They were key moments when we just weren’t ruthless enough, clinical enough, didn’t have the luck or we made certain mistakes that allowed that to happen. We have to recognise that as well.”