The Arsenal captain Mikel Arteta is in a state of shock after seeing Arsenal only score one goal in injury time – against a Man United side that were completely over-run by the Gunners attack.
“I am shocked we did not win this game, I cannot believe it still,” he said on Arsenal.com.
“I think we played our best game of the season, in terms of what we demand from ourselves with the quality of our attack, how early we won the ball back, how consistent we were throughout the game, the number of chances we created, and all that considering the opposition we were playing against.
“I can’t believe it and think it is a shame, not fair for the players and the fans. It is very frustrating.
“We were controlling the game and hammering them. Afterwards you have to take more risks, to chase the game. I feel so sorry for the lads and for the fans as well, because they were terrific and we don’t deserve it.”
“When you are inside the box, and you cannot manage to score in that many situations, you cannot expect to win a football game,” he continued. “On another day, we would have won the game very comfortably.
Despite the shock of defeat, he believes that the Arsenal players need to concentrate on the positive side of things going forward.
“We cannot forget what we have done well because it creates a lack of belief and confidence if you take a lot of negatives. Everybody is disappointed, but you can take many many positives from our performance. I was very proud with what we have done and I am shocked.”
We are all shocked Mikel, but it is now a recurring problem, not just this weekend’s game. It is difficult to look for positives when we are slipping down the table at an alarming rate. Why do we keep making the same mistakes week after week?
If Gibbs goal hadn’t been an own goal it would have been amazing. I would have called it the casket because it looks like you are dead but then like the undertaker you just get back up again.
why is arteta surprised? confused?
i dont blame arsenal much for the 1st goal: freakish.
but the 2nd : clearly mert should not be up so much because he runs like a giraffe. and this total lack of discipline rests 70% on wenger’s head because arsenal have done this over and over (mert is also to blame bc he’s a grown up and should see for himself what being up the field has done to the team over and over – every team knows u can take on arsenal on the counter).
[ and if we’re talking high standards, 1st couldve been avoided too had chesney clearly told gibbs that chesney was taking care of it. chesney’s another player thats regressed from last year: that goes to the manager that so many have regressed]
Kroenke- wenger just signed a contract, that’s ridiculous, and aob hangs himself, then wenger retires, i saw this vision, i think we should sacrifice someone, maybe kickassfan or muffled diver
Shame Giroud can’t play vs Dortmund, I feel like he could’ve provided a much-needed switch up. Hold up play with Sanchez running around sounds like a great plan vs Dortmund imo
Why can’t he play? Is he suspended?
Arsenal didn’t register him for the CL after his injury, obviously because he wasn’t expected back before Christmas. A bit weird but it’s understandable of course. Now our medical team looks better we still don’t benefit of it haha
Really? 😮 So who’s taking his spot? Don’t tell me it is… 🙁
YES IT IS LORD YAYA SANOGO ^^
this was the most clucked up thing I’ve read this morning. These 90+ minutes that Welbz and Sanchez are not good.
U will take his spot@Twig
Im not an aob tho
We lost the game firstly because we don’t have a No. 9 who could put away all the chances that we created. Welbeck was moving around too much, and didn’t stay enough centrally for the other players to create chances for him. Maybe if we had better midfielders, our strikers won’t need to run around as much?
I tell you he sounds exactly like Wenger these days!!!
We cant always look for positives just accept defeat and try to work on the weaknesses and the mistakes made. As Alisher Usmanov has rightly put it in his recent interview the club does not carefully assess or review the mistakes made during the games. They simply cover them and dig for “positives”, this is why Arsene and his boyz always make the same mistakes over and over.
I support a team without a manager, without a captain, without a board, and no owner.
What are they smoking at the Emirates, its a circus out there. I would pick Highbruy and the trophies we won over there than this white elephant.
But what do I know, I don’t get 8m to think about such!!!
usmanov is clearly hurting over seeing arsenal suffering. the kroenke b*stard OTOH says nothing: god i hate him. i REALLY wish he would just sell to usmanov (what a pox on humanity is kroenke: how can someone be so degraded that they dont want to win?)
i am shocked that hes still around at Arsenal….
i totally agree,the fact that Wenger made him captain is enough on its own for me to want Wenger out,let alone all the other poor decisions hes made over the past few years
We did play well but still end up with no points, something’s got to give! It was nice seeing Giroud back, I know it’s unfair to play Welbeck so often but he really doesn’t offer our midfielder’s as much as Giroud does. If Kos and Giroud didn’t get injured things would be very different, however this is exactly what we have all been saying for so long, no strength in depth! Why does it seem so simple? Same with putting players in the correct position, what are we all missing?
“if kos and giroud didnt get injured…”: we always get many injuries: whose fault is it to not have a plan B for that? to have a team of world-class CBs and CDMs and some up & coming promising ones that sit on the bench and provide a buffer in case of emergencies? this is not rocket science.
Rub him the sacrificial oil then
I signed in, in the 1st time in months just because of this article, i read nearly all but i never bother to leave a comment again because it has become rather melodramatic in this blog lately, and people throwing words around unnecessarily but i have to say Arteta was completely right! i was very very impressed with our game play, and had it been another team that had beaten us most will count it as bad luck, but being as it was Man Utd allot of emotions came with criticism. Fact of the matter is this, Wenger actually changed it up he played 4-3-3 and we played football many havnt seen from us in awhile! i was ecstatic to see our boys finally into the mix and amazed at how many times Monreal outjumped VP how jack was bossing fellaini before the injury so many positives it was unreal! But let me get real with people! Arsene is old and definitely naive by what i read in his after match conferences and the way he talks about the team, he seems to lack ruthlessness to go with skill. And his judgement is a lil impaired attaching emotion to football is a bad way to loose games, i was happy he finally drop Carzola last match and didnt play Flamini, but he also needs to open his eyes and address issues that everyone keeps shouting at before its too late, hes notorious for leaving things too late he did the same with ALL the deadwood in our past, and hes doing it now with our good players, we easily have the players to take this league by storm but bad judgement of form and on pitch responsibility is what is killing us! The things that killed us in our last match were obvious, why was mertsacker running into the box when hes a defender and knowing that hes the only qualified cb in the team surely he should have left the roaming for monreal, too many team members try and instill the responsibility of a WHOLE team onto themselves especially when we go down, now that works in a case where your team is packed with stars ala chelsea and man city but when you have players like ours our best way to win is patience and everybody playing THEIR role and playing it f-ing well and only few are doing that at the moment and that is the main spine of our problems when it comes to the team! Wenger is too fragile to address his team with aggression so he should instill that responsibility to other members of staff that have a ruthlessness for incompetence like bould etc. Hes not doing his FULL job as a manager yet he talks so much smack about what it takes to be a manager, when hes failing to realize we are in a new era of management! its no longer about what you know but how well you put that knowledge to use! and the perfect candidate doing just that is Mourinho believe it or not and THAT is why he is winning the league nothing else! because im sorry but Chelsea arnt spectacular! They are just good at doing what they are supposed to do! Not what they dont need to do which killed them last season! Simple as that!
One of the very few sensible comments here. I watched Usmanov’s interview with CNBC after the game and he was spot on. He said “you can only correct your mistakes if you accept you’ve made one”. During Wenger’s post match comment, he said “we believe in what we do”. Usmanov also said said that as one ages it is usually difficult to accept you’ve made a mistake. That is exactly the case with Wenger. Who says he doesn’t see what needs to be done? He does, but changing things would mean he has accepted that he’s been wrong all these years. Stubbornness and pride is Wenger’s and ultimately Arsenal’s undoing. Arsenal’s problem is not just the lack of personnel. Its also the way they play. Gibbs could do absolutely nothing about the own goal, but the second goal is solely on Per. Per almost became a striker on Saturday. Monreal who is even quicker, was where he should be, but Per was way up field. The baffling thing is that Per has absolutely no attributes to make a difference up front unless he’s there for a corner, being very tall and all,…but he was there anyway. If for three consecutive games we’re making the same mistakes, then that tells you the manager is not being ruthless enough with his players in the dressing room. And for all the chances created we still couldn’t score, yet we had our most lethal finisher (Podolski) on the bench. Yeah maybe the forced changes due to Jack and Sczesney’s injuries made that not possible, but why not tweak things up a bit at half time instead of leaving it late as usual. As long as wenger is at the helm of affairs at AFC nothing will change. I honestly hope we don’t qualify for next season’s UCL, maybe when the board doesn’t receive their usual 25 million quid for qualification, they’ll axe Wenger and make ME manager.
I fully hear you! and i fully agree, i also read Usmanovs interview and he was spot on, but he paid too much respect to Wenger, people associated with us on a corperate level need to be ruthless with Wenger, no more respect, pay that respect to him once hes left and theres a reason to respect his past achievements! no point in him still being here and we are still paying respect to his past achievements like his not here! Well to be fair he is kinda not here, hes a ghost of himself lately and people are seeing it except him, everywhere i turn and i hear wengers name they refer to his past! Not his present achievements like Ozil & Sanchez etc, to be fair the reason why nobody really cares about them is because it took him almost 6years to late to get on the high priced players bandwagon and even when he did, hes still trying to mix the new rules with his old dead rules by keeping people like Flamini, letting per lead the defence without a backup and he seems to forget these players are OLD they are more susceptible to fatigue than anyone else in the squad thats why when you look at our games, after the second half its only our attackers that still look lively! So much wrong! Wenger has lost his voice, passion and skill! how can you tell me you DID NOT SEE jack attack fellaini?? i mean come onnn! its just clear hes refusing to allow himself see the glaringly obvious! Although personally i loved the jack attack! and i adore his passion hes getting it back, its those things that make English players greaat! rooney was just like that infact worse at jacks age! So leave him it will all mould him into being a better player for the long term, you can only learn from your mistakes! Something Wenger isnt at all! Lets see how things line up for Dortmund before i will have anything else about Wenger and his progress! To be honest with you i couldnt give a fly fvck whether he stays or not IF I CAN SEE THE PROGRESS! and hes slow in that department by at least a year or 2 compared to his managerial counterparts! Even as a coach he seems terrible how on earth can you allow some of the things we see in this Arsenal side! our defence isnt that bad at all if he utilized them, trying out chambers in the middle again and other things! it just reminds me of all his other shambolic movements like when he forced midfielders on the wing to apparently improve their technical ability! all well and good Wenger but thats what Friendlies are for you doughnut! and if i remember corretly chambers was our defender in friendlies! so why tinker with what works? Hes a fantastic RB but so is bellerin! a roaming CB with high defensive duties is what he should be playing for the meantime till we can allow his teammates to get their confidence back! and when we are stocked at the back, try him in DM these are childish moves that anybody that plays football manager or Fifa can do! how can i top paid manager miss these things! Shape up or get out! Simple
Hahaaa hahaaaaa”, my dear Gooners, the reasons why we still can’t fight and win against the top teams and I wish to include on the list Everton and Southampton for that matter are:
1. The manager, his psychology when approaching the games and on the pitches is questionable, the way he responds to pre match interview mostly effects the morale of his players and boots the oppositions, the way he responds to mistakes during the game i.e. not approaching to the touchline till the opposition scores and his substitutions tells you that he is not fit psychologically.
2. Lack of qualities in some areas especially in defence and attacking minefields, here you may expect me to talk about DM instead of AM but for my quick view our AM with the exceptional of Mesut Ozil tend to dribble too often than looking for a killer pass, people may talk about Sanchez to be there but for me he is a better option among the available midfielders, however the only proper number 10 we have is Mesut Ozil. Jack Wilshere is not even a good substitute let alone to be guaranteed the position, fan may think otherwise but i real tells you that this lady isn’t an AM, let the coach try him in other positions especially in DM, look he has the ball about three meters away from De Gea instead of hitting the ball to the far post, he ran the ball up to about 60 cm to the keeper and hit the ball on the legs. You cannot see this to Lampard, Toure, Silver, Fabrigas, Oscar, Rooney, Gerald, Pinner, Osman, Jonjo, Raheem, to name few and that could have been the killer goal. Astonishing some fan even offered him the man of the match.
I even astounded to see some fans talking about the pass he made on Alex-Ox Chambo during the game England played against Scotland, there was no any extra ordinary on it, it is not even 20% of what Fabrigas did to Costa against us or not even 30% of what Song used to do to RVPs during their Emirate career.
Another area is the back four, intuitively speaking, the guy called Per Mertesacker isn’t a centre back of an Arsenal quality, he is very slow and fails to organize his co-defenders. Just look on the Rooney goal, the Midfielders have all the games, there was no reason for him and his cos to go forward he was required to sit back and try to recovers the balls while the Midfielders and the wingers are in attacks. Very disappointing Mertesacker, but when you play against the lower teams then you can hear from some fans saying he is our best defender my God!. Some Arsenal fans and their Manager may all fall on the Morinho’s word “simply they are specialist in failure”. They even don’t know how to encourage signings of quality players and even team selections through writing blogs and comments. Don’t write and make comments for the sake rather do it for the purpose of building a competitive Arsenal team. Gooners till die!!!!!!. In Arsene we lose trust!!!!!!.
Wenger together with all the deadwoods Ozil, Sanogo, Giroud, Diaby, Coquelin, Ryo, Arteta,
Flamini, Monreal and Per should be release with immediate effect…
Ozil isn’t dead wood you bafoon
Ozil, Giroud and Monreal are not deadwood.
Ozil and Monreal haven’t been playing in correct positions. Ozil is awesome at #10 and Monreal is very good at LB.
Giroud scores goals. Yes Ideally we need a top striker, but Giroud is a perfect supersub. He scored against City and United and has scored 41 goals.
Some of these criticisms are ridiculous
We need a striker who scores 41 goals in a season 😛
Really? Can u please tell me who scored 41 or more goals last season because if im not mistaken theres only around 5? In the big leagues. Or lesser
Can’t blame him…. I blame Wenger for all this…on a good day arteta would have been gone or on the bench…but the captain of a top club like arsenal…story for the god’s….Wenger out
You guys must really hate it but wenger is going nowhere, deal with it
U my friend has some brains, it will be a great battle , he just signed a new contract, but if adienl hangs to prove a point then wenger might retire
I love usmanov that guy knows football better than kroenke.he just said that for arsenal to get better wenger needs to admit mistakes and he needs to sign more players.and like every arsenal fan he knows that there is potential
Im still shocked that usmanov is one of our board members
The sad thing is we already know that those that almost all that played on Saturday will play again on Wednesday.
So Giroud won’t play on Wednesday, Welbek again! No matter wot, wenger out!
Arteta?
Really?
Another one of our “dead” players (with that useless tree Mertesacker) who is supposed to get a contract extension.
Arsenal has definitely become a charity case structure.
If a manager like Someone would come next year, players like Wilshere, Mertesacker, Arteta and more would be shown the door and made sure it does not slap them when they bounce the f*ck up.