Arteta condemns his side’s listless performance against West Ham saying they were not at the level required.
Arteta condemns his side after suffering a 1-0 loss to West Ham at the Emirates.
An extremely irate Mikel Arteta acknowledged that Arsenal’s performance in their loss to West Ham had fallen short of what was needed to win the Premier League, and he claimed his players must “feel the pain” ahead of their midweek trip to Nottingham Forest.
Myles Lewis-Skelly was sent off in the second half, and Jarrod Bowen’s 50th Premier League goal gave Graham Potter’s team three points. Arne Slot’s team has a chance to increase their lead when they play Manchester City on Sunday, but it still leaves Arsenal eight points behind Liverpool.
Although Arteta acknowledged that West Ham was a deserved winner over his lacklustre team, he refused to place the responsibility on the numerous attacking player injuries that compelled him to start Mikel Merino as a stand-in center-forward.
Similar to when he was sent out against Wolves last month, Lewis-Skelly was awarded a red card in the second half for pulling down Mohammed Kudus following a review by the video assistance referee. That ruling was reversed, but after VAR stepped in, it seems doubtful that the teenager will get another respite. He will now be suspended and miss Wednesday’s trip to third-place Forest.
“We are very disappointed and very, very angry as well,” he said. “I never felt that we were at the level that is required and I am very much responsible for that. We have to look in the mirror at ourselves of what we can do better, what we have done and the will and the desire and the way we run and the way we want it, zero question about that.”
Asked whether their poor performance was down to the lack of options in attack, he added: “No, I refuse that completely. We’re talking about the standards of the players and the team that played today, me included. And that was nowhere near the levels that we have to hit to have the opportunity to win the Premier League. Today no, we were very consistent, yes, but football is about what you do today and today, nowhere near.”