Mikel Arteta believes his Arsenal players ignored his warning about West Ham after their Carabao Cup exit on Wednesday night.
The Gunners were knocked out of the competition as David Moyes’ side deservedly emerged victorious at the London Stadium.
Ben White’s own goal gave West Ham the lead before Mohammed Kudus and Jarrod Bowen extended the hosts’ lead in the second half. Martin Odegaard scored a late consolation goal but Arsenal lacked the penetration and physicality and Arteta opted to put Bukayo Saka, William Saliba and Declan Rice on the substitutes bench.
Arteta said after the match that he took responsibility for the defeat, but stressed that he had warned his players before the game of the need to “compete” with West Ham.
“I am very disappointed with the result and performance and take responsibility for that,” said Arteta.
“I spent 48 hours trying to warn them that today was about how you would perform in these games and in the Carabao Cup away we didn’t do that well enough.”
“Of course the match started well for us, we were in full control, but the goal changes a lot of things and even though I didn’t think it was a goal, it doesn’t excuse the rest of the performance.”
“We definitely have to use the pain we felt today to make sure we are back at our best on Saturday because that is what we need to win.”
“But it is also a good experience to feel the pain and if we are not at our best, the performance has to be completely different to keep up and earn the right to win the match.”
Asked whether the absences of Rice and Saliba have had a big impact on Arsenal’s lack of physicality, Arteta said: “Of course there are different players who bring something different to the table, but it’s not about that, it’s about a lot of simple things. “Things we do. Today didn’t go well at all.
“Some of them were there, others were duels, 50s-50s, but we have a lot to offer in areas where at no point have we allowed ourselves to be a threat in the final third and that is something we dramatically. improve” from today.’
Asked whether Arsenal’s fringe players had a missed opportunity as they struggled against West Ham, Arteta said: “You have to be fair to the players.”
“Some players have not yet had that many playing minutes. That was not the case in the first match. And in another conversation with players who were not yet in the starting line-up, that is not a fair assessment.”
“But that’s something further away from the assessment: it’s about doing certain things that are necessary to win a football match, especially when you’re playing away from home against West Ham, and we didn’t do that well enough today. “
Source: Metro
Source: Metro
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