Arteta also sought to rally his players ahead of today's derby with Tottenham, demanding they find a way to handle the "noise" as the Premier League leaders suddenly stumble.
Arteta said: “You ask them the question, ‘Do you want to be part of the noise or not?’ If not, go and do something else.
“Be part of a different club. Or do you want to be Arsenal?
“Everybody has been demanding for ten years, 15 years that we need to go back fighting for the title, and now we are there.
"And now what? You don’t want noise?
“Noise is part of it, and the bullets are part of that. We try to deal with them in the right way and achieve what we are looking for.”
The Gunners are now only two points ahead of second-place Manchester City.
Arteta also stated: “We have to do what we have to do. I don’t think it is going to change for anybody.
“At the end you have to win the next match and if you do that you are going to be in a much stronger position.
“That is the only thing we can control.
“We have to live in the present. What we did in the past is great but we have to live in the present, and the present is beautiful.
“We are exactly where we want to be in every competition.”