Arteta “disappointed” with Forest loss, but mentions 9 or 10 absentees

Arsenal had quite a few players missing for this FA Cup game at Nottingham Forest, but as I recorded before the game, Mikel Arteta still had a very strong team to put out, with the only real weakness being in our midfield area. In fact half of our outfield players had started in our excellent game against Man City.

But even with Saka, Odegaard and Martinelli (all supposedly worth well over 50 million each) supporting Nketiah, we didn’t even manage one shot on target against a mid-table Championship side. And don’t get me started on Nketiah’s striking skills. To be honest, there was little surprise when Forest finally made the breakthrough near the end.

We could clearly see how frustrated Arteta was getting on the sidelines, but he just couldn’t seem to persuade his team to up their game, which is something that we haven’t seen for a while.

So how do you think Arteta felt after the game? He told Arsenal.com: “I’m really disappointed with the performance, first of all – not with the attitude, but how much purpose we had and what determination we showed to change the game when it’s difficult to play against [them] and the way they play. [We needed] more drive, more hunger to win at any cost in every single action. We were not there at our level today.”

“It’s frustrating, but it’s happened – and we have to analyse why it’s happened. We can talk about all the players that we didn’t have – nine or 10 – or the players that we had. Today we should have done something different.”

“I know – because I’ve been playing games like that for the last 18 years – how complicated it is to come here and the difficulties you’re going to face is no surprise. But when we do that, we have to face it in a different way.

“It’s really hurting. It’s a competition that is related to our history and to go out of it today is a big bump.”

This is a real downer for Arsenal fans as we are so used to going a long way in this competition, and there is little excuse to be given. Even if Arteta had a full squad he still would have played a lot of the ones that were on the pitch, so the absentees shouldn’t have made much difference.

“Disappointed” is probably the understatement of the year!

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30 Comments

  1. This is what happens when you have zero squad rotation and every is not match fit and hasn’t played together.

    We’ve had many games where we have been in the drivers seat and subs are still made extremely late instead of subbing players on around 65th minute and giving them some invaluable game time.

    1. Imagine chasing the game and instead of sending the goalkeeper and defenders up he makes a substitution in the 91st minute to waste 90secs of injury time ,the blokes a moron .
      The excuses will roll out for him that’s a given.
      But what you won’t see is Arteta owning up to his own shortcomings and there are plenty of them.

      1. Dan kit I totally agree with you everybody’s fault but Arteta putting a defender on in injury beggars belief the man has to own up to his own mistakes or he is not a man who I thought he was

    2. Spot on. You can’t build a squad with a few players. Sterling began the season for Mancity on the bench, but right now is in the starting eleven ahead of Grealish. Every member of a squad is important. A good team is built on how motivated the reserve players are.

  2. Arsenal needs good players per position.
    I have said this many times. If you are missing 10 players you should have 10 equally good players to step in.
    If Leno is not good do not play him. He seems to slow the team from the back.
    And why play Lokonga, the last game he played he and partey gave away a goal each. He is too soft to be a defensive mid, Neither is he a CAM.

    He should have tried chambers or even white in the middle.

  3. Our squad is paper thin and extremely young. There will be times when inexperience will show, and yesterday it cost us.

    Can’t rely on “kids” all season round.

    Need 2-3 players this month: 2 midfielders and 1 striker. AMN gone, Balogun soon gone, Nketiah not signing an extension, 4 players in AFCON, constant COVID threat and not even mentioning injuries. Then there’s players with contract running down come summer: Chambers, Lacazette, Elneny, Kolasinac, Nketiah. How much effort can’t we expect from them?

    Our squad is actually 22-man strong as Saka, ESR and Balogun can be counted as U21’s so we can easily bring in 3 players.

    1. DaJuhi Where is the money coming from if he don’t sell players it not a never ending well. He has had more money than any manager I know at Arsenal in a transfer window

  4. With 9-10 players out, that was a game we should’ve put in the work to win.
    I keep saying this thing, no single club has the God given right to three points on matchdays or winning games.
    That team we put out yesterday was good enough to get the win.
    Why did they play like they weren’t even interested? Only the players know why they lost interest.
    Was really looking forward to seeing more of our academy kids this season. That’s gone.
    Well the good thing out if is that we ain’t gonna be seeing Holding, Kolasinac, and Cedric this season anymore

      1. Why would you start Laca, then play him on Thursday against Liverpool, then play him on Sunday in the league?
        Are you trying to kill him or run him down?
        There’s your answer.
        Even Saka and Martinelli shouldn’t have started the game.
        Thy started cuz ESR has a knock and Balogun has Covid

  5. After we went 0-3 at the start of the season if you had then offered Arsenal fans Carabao Cup semi and top 4 on Jan 10th they would have snapped your hand off. Prior to the Forest game many folks were discussing which fringe or young players would get minutes v Forest. I warned that Forest was going to be an enormous challenge not a trial for the reserves. It was obvious that the 4 Carabao cup games had been against weak and injury ravaged teams 3 of which were home ties. So our Cup team had not played any team with any strength. Add to that we were away plus we had a CB out, our only quality RB out, all our top DM out. The midfielders who had saved us with goals previously Odegaard Saka ESR Martinelli had been played non stop, Lokonga had little or no recent game time Patino was totally out of his depth while Nketiah proved once more how good he is not against decent teams. So all in all the result was totally predictable no surprise at all even expected.
    I’d rather be in the semi final of the Carabao than the 4th round of the FA Cup. Less games to play now too. We just need to turn the page and move on. As I said after the 0-3 start 99% of Gooners wrote off the Arsenal season. Yet here we are two games away from a final and competing for 4th place. We will get our players back and go on a winning run again like we have done after each speed bump this season.
    Onwards and upwards. COYG

    1. I ask you yet again FF, if your prediction that we finish 5th or 6th and (perhaps) win the Carabo Cup, where is the improvement?

      AW finished 6th and got knocked out of the cup by Forest… ditto MA?

      UE finished 5th and took us to a european final.

      MA has finished 8th twice, got knocked out of the fa cup in the 4th and 3rd round, led us to no european football for the first time in over two decades, spent two seasons letting go of the players who helped win him the fa cup, spent iin the region of £300,000,000 and is asking for more and you say finishing 5th or 6th is an improvement?
      Tell me where the improvement, consistency, style of play is and don’t forget he inherited the likes of Xaka and ESR.

      1. I told you before the League is a lot harder than Wengers day. Top 6 is the new top 4. Get with the programme.

    2. FairFan- what do you actually win in early January with a fourth position in the EPL and semi final Carabao cup? Nothing PAL. After that total embarrassment yesterday I can tell you now know amount of arse-licking from you will save Arteta from every single critic out there. That performance typifies this team and this manager. Gutless display and all down to this gutless manager. We are where we are in the EPL in spite of Arteta and not because of him.
      Get yourself some reality PAL- you need it

  6. You people all wrote off the Arsenal season after the 0-3. I am happy because I predicted 5/6 by May. I am right you fullahs were wrong. Just admit it.

    1. Actually it’s still January last time I checked, so how can you say your right predicting 5th or 6th in May?

    2. No we didn’t write Arsenal off after the 3-0 defeat. You did/have with your backwards step predictions. I dont get how finishing in the same position as tge season before he came in as improvement. ANSWER KENS QUESTION. You are avoiding it because what you are saying is waffle with no base and you know it.

      1. Yep you did you and all your cronies all wrote off Arsenal’s season after the 0-3. It’s a fact. You can run but you can’t hide you all said our season was over at 0-3. Now you can’t stand the fact you were all wrong.

        1. Perhaps Pat could put up the replies after the defeat by Brentford and see who actually said our season was over?
          It’s so easy to claim someone said this or that without supplying the proof – like saying it’s harder to win the PL now than when AW was in control… let’s see the proof.

        2. No we didn’t, we said it wasn’t good enough but NONE of us wrote the season off. We said we should be better than that.

      2. Excuses excuses excuses…That’s what you get from a shambolic average manager who loses shamefully to weaker teams….Forest is now a bigger team to arsenal that u need a full squad to beat them.. Arteta is simple clueless.

    3. Yeah but that’s just it PAL isn’t it? We have a squad more than capable of achieving Top 4. We all recognise this. But we also have a manager that clearly is not capable of bringing a consistency of performance that is required to achieve this.
      You seem to feel success this season is finishing 5th or 6th in the league and getting to a cup semi final. I don’t and certainly most others don’t either.
      Arteta has spent over £250m on this squad and we are showing the same failures we had under both Emery and the latter days of Wenger.
      If you feel smug at having won nothing in January other than a cup semi final place in what is our fourth trophy in regards of priority, ( League, Euro Qualification and FA Cup being the main demands) then you PAL are far too easily pleased. That performance yesterday was a disgrace, yet who was really that surprised? Most were not. It’s just a typical performance from a team managed by a novice who is clueless when it comes to both motivational requirements and tactical nous. Most of that team yesterday were international level in terms of age. All had experienced international football at a certain level. This alone makes them decent footballers. Yesterday they looked like a pub team. And Arteta is proving his level – he’s a Sunday pub team manager and nothing better.

    4. @fairfan,,, you’re gunna look like a turkey gobbler if they finish 7th. And that is a true possibility. They would have been sitting pretty had they not thrown 10 points down the toilet. Losses to Manchester United and Everton, and we played them at their most weakest and vulnerable periods. And we drew against Brighton and Crystal Palace. Don’t care how tough the Premier League is,,, you don’t throw away those kind of points. Especially at this time of the year. And especially when losing Partey and Co for a month. 5th or 6th is not an achievement. Not for Arsenal. Getting booted out of the 3rd round of the FA Cup by a Championship side is an absolute embarrassment. Maybe not for you @fairfan,, but to most of us, we took that defeat to heart

  7. Excuses excuses excuses…That’s what you get from a shambolic average manager who loses shamefully to weaker teams….Forest is now a bigger team to arsenal that u need a full squad to beat them.. Arteta is simple clueless.

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