http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk...teta-demands-european-respect-64375-20514024/
MIKEL ARTETA is aiming to steer Everton to their twin ambitions of UEFA Cup glory and securing a place in the Premier League’s top four by getting back to his best form.
The Basque midfielder marked his return to the side in Thursday night’s 6-1 mauling of SK Brann with his first goal from open play since October 28 against Derby County.
Arteta, who missed the first leg in Norway as he was undergoing treatment for a groin problem, hopes that he has now finally shaken the problem off after revealing that he has been unable to train properly for three months.
During that time, the 25-year-old has not always been able to influence games on a regular basis in the way that his own high standards demand but he is now hoping to get back to producing the kind of performances that led to him to be named as Everton’s Player of the Season for the previous two campaigns.
Arteta said: “The goal was a boost for me.
“I feel better. I’ve had a groin injury a long time now and have been struggling for three months getting back, not training and just playing. I hope to get back in training now between every game and I’m feeling sharper as well.
“It was getting complicated and I didn’t like it because I like to train every week and every day because it makes me feel sharper and better but sometimes that’s the way it has to be.
“The other solution was to miss seven or eight games and I didn’t want to do that.”
He added: “I know that in certain games I dipped below the standards I set last year as I could not play like I could.
“Hopefully from now until the end of the season I’m going to start feeling better and 100% fit.
“We needed to win, we didn’t want to go into the game sloppy, that was the risk.
“We started the game a little bit slowly but then we started passing it well and got a great result again.”
Everton continued their excellent form in the UEFA Cup this season with a club record seventh consecutive win in Europe and Arteta hopes that their good results and impressive performances will help raise the club’s status around the continent,
Despite his cult status at Goodison Park, Arteta continues to be overlooked by the Spanish national team and it is often suggested that this is because Everton are somehow deemed not ‘high-profile’ enough in his homeland.
Arteta said: “We want to get respected, we’ve got some big games coming up in Europe and the Premier League as well.
“Fiorentina is going to be a massive game, we want to get some respect.
“It’s not going to be easy, it’s going to be difficult, Fiorentina’s players have a lot of European experience.
“Now everything gets tight in the UEFA Cup, we need to be ready for that.
“We’ve got the full squad back fit now and that’s going to help us.”
Arteta was joined on the scoresheet by hat-trick hero Yakubu and Andrew Johnson who bagged a brace and he acknowledged that it was a golden opportunity for Everton’s strikers to boost their morale.
He said: “The games like Brann are so important for strikers to get the goals, get the touch and get the confidence and it’s a good point for Yakubu and Andrew Johnson to start again.”
After undergoing treatment yesterday, Arteta expects to be fit for Everton’s trip to Manchester City on Monday.
David Moyes’s side hope to return to Eastlands on May 14 for the UEFA Cup final but for now they are just concentrating on putting a six-point gap between themselves at City in the battle for the final Champions League qualification spot.
Arteta said: “Manchester City is a ‘six-pointer’ because if we win against them we make the gap between us a big one. That’s what we want to do. They’ve been playing very well at home but we’re confident at the moment.
“We have got respect for them but we know we can go there and beat them – we did that six weeks ago and we can do it again.”
