Mikel Arteta was definitely angry after the midweek loss to Wolves when we should have been far in front even before the sending off of David Luiz just before half-time, but I think he was even more angry after losing to Aston Villa on Saturday.
Yes, he believes that the Gunners were yet againly badly treated by the match officials, but he seemed to even more angry with his strikers for not putting away the chances that would have given us the points. “It was a really strong performance again.” Arteta told Arsenal.com. “We completely dominated the game, we dominated in every department and we should have won the game. But in the Premier League when you give a goal to the opponent – and we gave them another three opportunities – and you are not ruthless in the opponent’s box, you don’t win games.
“The rest, the way the team played and the energy that they showed, the quality they showed, the number of chances and situations we created, how quickly we regained the ball, how we controlled long balls, second balls and how aggressive we were in our duels, it was all incredible. But it wasn’t enough to win the game.”
The reason we were behind of course was the calamity of errors that led to Ollie Watkins goal in the second minute, and he was angry because of the defence as well, but yet again he came back to our strikers simply not putting the ball in the net as the reason for our defeat. “Those [top-four] teams don’t make those mistakes.” he continued. “Those [top-four] teams cannot play four or five times in the first 22 games of the season with 10 men. It doesn’t happen. There’s not a team in the world that can sustain that.
“If you concede a goal early or make an error, the team has to react. The team reacted and we had more than enough to still come back and win the game. If you don’t do one thing, you have to do the other. If you are not ruthless enough in the opponent’s box then of course you are going to lose the game.”
So who would you pick as the reason we lost this game? Was it our clumsy defending, refereeing errors, or our non-scoring strikers?
Dominated? Are you kidding or dreaming? Their defense was simply better than our attack. Didn’t you know that football is a game of attack AND defense?
Arsenal players are not taught to think ahead of the ball. So they are predictable in attack. They hesitate, even when playing from defence. Keeper 3 touches, Luiz 6 touches, Gabriel, 3 touches. Smith Rowe changed it a bit, but they need several players doing that to have a great attack. Each player takes extra touches on the ball and it weakens the team.
That title haha….arrogance
MAs ego cost us….he refuses to change as he is convinced what he’s doing is perfect.
Very well put! Arteta has been extremely fortunate – no supporters at the Emirates, substantial investment in the team by KSE, and patience from the Board with Arteta ‘s unending “process “. Yet, TEN losses out of 23 and Arteta is still here! None of these luxuries were provided to Emery.
Arteta has the lion share of the blame
I’m afraid our Manager finds it difficult to recognise the difference between perception and reality.This is particularly concerning when he is the guy with the ultimate authority in terms of selection .
Sorry but Arteta is off on this one. Villa defense was better, so was their midfield, in fact their team is better; that’s why they beat us twice.
Wish Arteta would stop whining about officials, it’s histrionic and tiring. Focus on the team’s lack of performance and quality.
He shouldn’t be referencing top 4; they would fire their manager if they had 10 losses.
Simple answer is not good enough and coaches job to improve the team.
We all see the game through our own tainted glasses. To me we didn’t really bothered Villa too much and never looked like coming back into the game.
We played to our level if you ask me. We are not going to get relegated but we will not do much better than last year.
We have a largely average squad with a few decent players, that maxes you a mid table team since most PL mid-table teams have a few decent players supported by largely average players.
Good post, apart from your first line, as REALISTS like me and a few others do NOT look through tainted glasses, as most fans do. That is WHY we are realists; we never fool ourselves we are better, or worse, than we are. Seems you too are a realist but surely you recognise that SOME other Gooners are also realists?
If you close your eyes and simply listen to his ridiculous words, he sounds a lot like a delusional Wenger…red flags anyone!!!
Wenger was never 11th in Feb though
The guy is dillusional if he thinks we dominated and was unlucky. Im afraid he is showing signs he is out of his depth.
I don’t think we were overwhelmed by Villa. The unfortunate bits wer the early goal and Arteta’s ill-conceived substitutions. There was no reason to replace Lacca with Auba or Willian coming on. In fact Willian should not be coming onto the pitch until we are sure he is ready to play to the required level. I was surprised that Arteta brought on Willian instead of Martinelli who would have disturbed Villa’s defence. Currently Auba is in dip form and should be rested. He will regain his form gradually and return stronger than he has been.
I don’t think we were dominated by Villa nor were we domineering . we had chances to win the game but as usual our attack was misfiring. Arteta can not keep giving Willian chance after chance. He is not up to it. Lacca always gives you 100% where as others need to look at their performances. This season is well gone so Arteta should Louis on the bench and play the younger lads to get a more stable back 4 for next season.
We are to prone to idiotic mistakes that cost us points, games and ultimately money. If I made stupid mistakes that could potentially cost my employer millions I would be sacked on the spot. No more excuses, buck up or ship out.