Arsene Wenger says he’s not mad at his players following Arsenal’s defeat at West Bromwich Albion, but he does believe they suffered a destructive loss of focus in the period after Olivier Giroud’s opener.
The Gunners were in firm control at the Hawthorns when the French striker broke the deadlock on 28 minutes before James Morrison’s volley and Mikel Arteta’s own goal saw them crumble before half time.
In the second period the visitors missed a host of chances as they piled on the pressure in search of an equaliser before Santi Cazorla compounded a bad day at the office by missing a late penalty.
After the game Wenger told Arsenal Player: “The result does not reflect the game but we have to look at ourselves. I think at 1-0 up we became a little too easy and the equaliser they scored sums it up well, they didn’t even need to have the ball.
“That is where we have to mature. In the second half we gave absolutely everything. We were unlucky and it was a bad day because we scored an own goal, missed a penalty and overall didn’t deserve to lose this game.
“We have to look at ourselves and think why did it happen to us? I believe we lost a fraction of focus when we were 1-0 up. It is frustrating, it is disappointing and what you want is to learn from a game you don’t deserve to lose.
“We had 72 per cent possession and if you lose it you have to look at yourself and think what happened to us.”
In his post-game press conference, he added: “I cannot be mad at the team because they gave what they could until the last minute but we lost a bit of focus at 1-0 – at 35 minutes we were 1-0 up and then at 45 we were 2-1 down. Our defending on that level was very, very poor.”
Yesterday’s defeat sees us drop down to fourth in the table level on points with Manchester City who took a hammering from Liverpool.
That we’re only trailing Manchester United by one point and only two behind surprise leaders Leicester means we’re very much still in the race for the title. We do though need to regroup quickly if we’re going to find the momentum we need to get us through the hectic Christmas period.
Keep calm and trust the boys, we’ll win the EPL. We have the best team and best manager by a mile. Keep it positive, stop spreading negatives. 🙂
stop spreading stupid
I dont take serious anyone that calls it the EPL
I serious don’t take calls it the anyone EPL.
We will win the league.
A loss usually spoils my weekend , but this feels different . Still annoying but sometimes you have to accept a bad day at the officen
As most have pointed out, the loss itself is not as hard to swallow as the fact that we’ll be losing our only reliable DM for a considerable period. The defending was atrocious at the hawthorns and it showed right after losing Coq to injury. Best case scenario; either Coq comes back as early as next week, or the rest of the team pick up the slacks up until January where we can buy cover. Worst case scenario, we go back to our ways of conceding bloody easy goals after keeping 80% of possession, and losing touch with the rest… Read more »
This has all the makings of a long and painful season!! So Arsenal…
Flamini has looked hungry this season and has obviously put in some good displays. Feel like he will actually do a good job covering for Coq until the transfer window.
One step forward, one step back, twists ankle…
Same old Arsenal… it’s like the crazy ex that keeps popping up!
We’ve been pretty lucky with our Coq but evidently that run has come to an end.
Hopefully will prompt reinforcements in January.
not going to happen! there were great players available in the summer and we decided to keep on with arteta and flamini! ridiculous. i know blog loves arteta and quiet a few do on here but hes shit and has never been good enough
I’ve head it all before from Wenger and I’m sick of it. Same old excuses, ‘we lacked sharpness, concentration etc’, yawn. Why are we lacking these things? Why are you not installing these into the players so they have a killer instinct to grab a second and shut the game down? Stop trotting out the same excuses and justify your 8 million salary. You made massive mistakes in the transfer window as per usual, last year you left us short of a centre back and we put no title challenge in. This year you made the ridiculous decision to give… Read more »
We’re still in a good position. Cheer up.
Yes 4th and probably out of Europe with most of the squad injured.
Blah blah focus, blah blah mental strength, blah blah a little bit the handbrake.
Come on Arsene, give us some new ones. We’re all a bit sick of hearing the same meaningless phrases. It’s like hearing Shearer or the Sky muppets talking about “Pashun” as a single quality rather than a lazy way of summing up the combination of qualities needed to win.
absolutely spot on
luckily i havent seen per come out and say how bad the defending was yet and how we need to learn lessons
Wenger: We lost focus
Me: That happens a lot….
Regroup and on to the next one. How much should we rotate for CL game?
Errrr…we have bugger all to rotate!
no kidding!
We are 2 points off top and all you sad cases are having a meltdown. Seriously? Yes im pissed that we didn’t capitalise on City’s failure, but ffs, half you guys show up and abuse everyone after a loss, but during a win, they’re nowhere to be seen. Bunch of miserable souls.
The comments section on this site is usually full of rational, mature human beings that give informed opinions. But then straight after a loss, a bunch of halfwits take over. Go support Barca or Madrid you gloryhunting pieces of shite.
Tbf we are allowed to be pissed off…some just express themselves a bit ott…others are to rational. Shit happens imo…were still there. COYG
I understand that. I’m sure everyone gets pissed off. But abusing the players doesn’t help either. People were actually slating the shit out of Santi! SANTI!! our most consistent player since he signed up. Such a joke.
And why not? Is he immune to critics? Should the critics go around Özil al the time? His penalty was a shame!
I never said he’s immune to criticism, he definitely doesn’t deserve abuse though.
It’s funny(not really, more like sad), after Giroud’s goal there was a passage of play where we were playing exceptionally well. Almost showing off, with the fans going ole ole at every pass. People here say we played like shit, we didn’t. It’s just that they got extremely lucky, and we made two awful defending mistakes and that’s it, game over. We tried hard but couldn’t recover. Don’t know what miss was worse though, Santi’s penalty or Joel’s howler?
Seriously? Isn’t that what a comment section is for? Opinions?
Not everyone thinks unicorns and rainbows about a frustrating loss. People are well within their rights to express dissatisfaction. Doesn’t make them a fake fan, and some might even call it passion.
Stop being so gawddamn PC, bro.
Spend some Faaakin’ money! Please.
Rest top players for champions league…its not happening imo…and to be frank…our squad cant handle all these competitions. Id rest alexis, santi, giroud, ozil. Rest Koscielnys achillies and give him some much needed time off…bring in the jeff and crowley, start campbell and give hayden a chance a dm again….might need him.
Isn’t Hayden at Hull for the season?
Ah shit….just start OG there then ; )
Start Bennacer as well.
Whos the young lad that played the in COC??
Same old nonsense from the deluded old French fool. It’s so frustrating, isn’t it? Everything has fallen beautifully for us this season: Chelsea have fallen apart under the weight of Maureen’s hubris; United are still average and need a couple of year’s work to be title challengers; and Man City look to be in real trouble as their key players struggle with persistent injuries. But have we taken advantage? Of course not. Just as it was two years ago, the title is up for grabs. But will we take advantage of this wonderful situation? Of course we won’t. Yet again,… Read more »
I think you could make your point just as well without the name calling, man. If you would do that in future, I’d appreciate it.
Fair enough. Sorry.
Manny g everyone is entitled to an opinion right or wrong nothing glory hunting about that.That’s why football is such a great game no other sport causes a great debate
No it’s such a great game as it combines speed, strength and agility in the perfect balance. As opposed to games for physical freaks and steroid addicts like Rugby or American Football.
You can have a debate about anything. Such as the exact nature of torture that Michael Owen should be subjected to for his banal, incoherent match summaries. That doesn’t make the subject great.
Oh wait……
The question should be “why does this happen to us so often?” In January, I think we should take some risks in the market if we are still in a good position to win the PL.
The irony of saying Wenger didnt want to sign Cesc back as we had too much quality in midfield, bet he wished he’d signed him at the time.
Cesc sucks!
No. They did not loose focus, they lost Coq.. He has been the one bringing the steel and defensive awareness to the team. Without him, well, we have seen it before… This team without that steel in front of the back four is in shambles.. And Wenger once again did not adress the lack of back-up which will cost massively.. AGAIN…. Im tired of this.
how long is the recovery time of knee ligaments injury? coz that’s what coquelin has suffered according to reports. i fear his season is over and maybe our title chances. i still think we could be in the title mix till late into the season, or at least that’s what i hope. but i think losing coquelin is massive.
I think Wenger needs to learn how to make tough decisions. We would not be this injury ridden every season if Wenger just made the call and replaced all the players who spend every single season in the physio room. Like Rosicky, Walcott, Wilshere, Diaby etc. In the end he is left with nothing for his loyalty like we saw with Van Persie. Wenger stuck by him for 8 years through all kinds of injuries, and when he finally got fit he packed his bags and left to become the most instrumental player in Manchester United winning the league which… Read more »
We re so lucky the PL is so poor this season. If only Wenger could bring some cover for Coquelin in January…..
Same old Arsenal – Yes. But the League is very different this season. Leicester City on top for fuck sakes! No Chelsea or City running away with it this time around. After the last two results we should have dropped 5 pts to the leaders and maybe be close to 10 pts behind already. The fact that only a poor ManU in a transitional year gained 5 pts on us in not too devastating. The title race is definitely on. City are obviously having their own issues similar to us. Leicester are a great story but they’ll eventually fall off… Read more »
Every season has its twists, yesterday was just one of them. I’m disappointed we didn’t move up the table yesterday buh I’m even more convinced we are poised to top the table at any moment. It has been long since we’ve been in such a good position by December. IMO we have a good chance to be champions this season, a very good chance.
Why are we losing focus? Its a tight race with Leicester up there with a number of other (erratic teams) + Spurs chasing. Complacency again. Defense would have been first priority given. Thought we may have chosen the wrong option with Gibbs. As much as Joel is coming for flack for not being ‘good enough’, he got into a good position to score and had he been on earlier, may have had a number more chances to put it away (law of percentages would suggest the odds would benefit us with a longer stint of his presence) Also Bellerin looked… Read more »
Is this the best we can do given our resources?????
I believe the honest reality is that we’ve capped out with Wenger: we know the best we can get. Whether this is the best we can do give our resources should really evaluated by all sides
Contrary to popular opinion. Ozil Was to blame for the second goal he got dispossessed too easily. Mistakes happen.
That miss by Joel I think just marked his chances of first team. It sparked off memories of gervinho’s misses.
I don’t think cazorla tripped because the ground. He’s angle was
Why does this team ‘lose focus’ or ‘underestimate’ opponents? It’s because Wenger does. It may only be sub-conscious but that’s enough to affect the player.
And what a red-herring his %age possession stat is. He knows full well he has won games against better teams by conceding the ball… Why wouldn’t West Brom do it to us!!!