Gunners boss admits that his side have a red card problem after three sending offs in eight Premier League games
Gunners boss Mikel Arteta admits his Arsenal side have an issue with red cards. However, he believes that talking to the squad about it is not the right way to address it.
Arsenal is still in shock after losing 2-0 against Bournemouth on Saturday. The game descended into chaos following William Saliba’s contentious red card. They were five points ahead of the closest Premier League team during that time, having been fired three times this season and eighteen times since Arteta took over in December 2019. They will not be contesting the Saliba ruling, therefore the centre-back will be benched for Sunday’s match against Liverpool. Arteta acknowledged that things must change in some way.
“Playing with 10 men, obviously there is an issue,” he said, also referring to Declan Rice’s sending off against Brighton in August and Leandro Trossard’s early bath at Manchester City last month.
“The truth is when you analyse the three very different actions and the outcome of them, the reasons are very different. Regardless of that, we cannot continue to play with 10 men, especially at this level. We need to eradicate that. It’s clear why, the reason, and how doesn’t matter. We have to focus and it has to happen.”
Arteta responded that experience has taught him not to make it a living issue among the group when asked what the potential remedy would be.
“The most effective way, I have to be very honest, is not talking about it. Because we tried, we showed and we talked, and we repeated the message that we had to play with 11, and it happened again after a week or three weeks. They said: ‘Guys, let’s try something else,’ and then it disappeared.”
Arsenal has only managed to salvage two points from the three games in which its numbers were cut, but Arteta praised his team’s resilience in trying circumstances. “It’s absolutely galvanised,” he said.
“They show their teeth and they fight against the situation. They say: ‘OK, this is what we have to play, how we have to do it. We’re going to do it and we’re happy with that.’ But we understand as well the margins of being successful and obviously we need to change that.”