LONDON : Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta congratulated North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur for winning the Europa League on Wednesday, but insisted that whether a team have won a trophy should not determine if a season has been successful.
Arteta's side, currently second in the Premier League behind champions Liverpool, will finish without any silverware this term but Spurs, who have had a dismal domestic campaign and sit 17th, have ended the season on a high with a European trophy.
"They are (Europa League) champions and when you get to that you have to do a lot of things right. I think they're going through a season with a lot of obstacles and difficulties. And they have, at the end... a beautiful moment," Arteta said.
But asked at a press conference on Thursday which of the two teams have had a better season, Arteta avoided a direct comparison between Tottenham and his own side.
"I don't like to compare with other teams. I need to analyse my team, that's my job," said the Spaniard, who led Arsenal to the Champions League semi-finals where they were eliminated by Paris St Germain earlier this month.
Arteta said a team should not be judged solely on their trophy count in a season, citing the example of his own side, who have never won the Champions League and have not lifted the Premier League trophy since 2003-04.
"Where is the joy then? Because then if I have to analyse ourselves ... we have failed the last 20 years in the Premier League and we have failed in all our history in the Champions League," Arteta said.
"Who are we then? Where is our brand, where is our club... where is our value, our way of playing? Where are the moments that we lived together with our people?"
Arteta said Arsenal, who have conceded only 33 league
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