Mikel Arteta says Liverpool’s cutting-edge in the penalty box made all the difference on a night when Arsenal pushed Jurgen Klopp’s title challengers but ultimately came up short.
Two goals in six minutes from Diego Jota and substitute Roberto Firmino took the wind out of the Gunners’ sails in the second half not long after Martin Odegaard had squandered a fine chance to put the home side in the driving seat.
“From box to box, we did everything that we planned,” Arteta told the BBC after the 2-0 defeat.
“How they executed the quality, the mentality, the physicality, the courage to play and be better than them in that phase, for me there’s no question about that.
“What happened in the boxes, that’s a different story and that’s where we lost the game.”
He added: “We had two big moments, before that [Liverpool scored], Martinelli goes all the way to the keeper and he has a big chance to score. And then we had the chance we Martin.
“When you have these chances and you are dominating the game and you are doing everything you are doing in the game, you have to be ahead.
“If you don’t and then we concede the two poor goals that we conceded, then it becomes really difficult to win the game.”
Despite the obvious disappointment of losing the match and a recent five-game winning streak, the Spaniard was clearly pleased with the nature of his side’s efforts.
“The whole team, I think the team played fantastically well,” he said.
“I don’t think the result reflects the performance of the team but unfortunately, in the boxes, they were by far the better team. They had two decisive moments and they put the ball in the net twice.
“To play at the level that they [Liverpool] require you to play, because they have set other standards again this season, and to cope with that and sometimes be better than that,
“I have to congratulate and be very proud of the team. Unfortunately, we’re here to win football matches and today, we haven’t done it.”
Arsenal don’t have much time to sulk, the players will have a recovery day tomorrow, a training session on Friday and then head to Birmingham for a Saturday lunchtime kick-off with Aston Villa. It’ll be important to get a win before the first Interlull of 2022 kicks into gear.
“We have to take the positives, learn from the good things we can do as a team, sleep well, eat well, mentally be ready,” said the boss. “Saturday will be a very different game but a very difficult game.”
We’re getting there but 4 games and no goals against any team, even this Liverpool side, is pretty shameful.
In the box, that’s the key, we do not have a ruthless penalty box poacher like in-form Auba. This area needs summer reinforcement. Now, get ready for Villa Park.
We need a guy with pace who can hold the line and head the ball as well.
A pacey Alan Smith/Olivier Giroud-type would be ideal.
So Haland basically
I wouldn’t call it shameful. They just have way more quality than us in every department. They are probably top 3 best teams in the world. I think we did really well in the first half, but couple of miss chances and mistakes against this team and you will get punished. Saying that even if we finish 4th, I really don’t think we will get out of our group unless we add way more quality to this team. Like Man UTD, why on earth are they trying to finish 4th? They can’t even best a below power A. Madrid.
54 people think zero goals from four games is par…time this fanbase started looking up.
Unlucky
I don’t think we’ll see Ramsdale get beaten at his near post again. He’ll learn quick from that goal
Benjamin Whites positioning for the second goals needs to be better
To be brutally honest, that was a magnificent shot by Jota, the problem is that he was given the time and space to get a shot like that – not tight enough markings.
Conceding at the near post? It happens to even the greatest goalkeepers.
Just ask Bob Wilson. He did the exactly the same thing as Ramsdale against Liverpool – in an FA Cup Final. (1971).
I don’t know why it’s said, by experts, commentators and fans alike, that goalkeepers shouldn’t be beaten at the near post. Often, when the striker goes for the far post, the ball is parried into the path of another striker. If the striker is clear through, and has time to set his shot, the goalie has to guess which side it’s likely to go, and if he guesses wrong, it’s in. In that situation, it’s a great save if it’s kept out. It’s only a goalkeeping error if the striker doesn’t get hold of it properly and the goalie fumbles… Read more »
Exactly… There’s a goalkeeping programme on BT Sport called The Special 1 where Rob Green explains about ‘getting beaten’ at the near post…worth a watch.. that said Ramsdale will be disappointed as he got a paw to it, just wasn’t strong enough… credit to Jota though who pinged it…!
We all know that the likes of Liverpool are at a level above us. To play the way we did was a credit to the team. They were a threat to the mugsmashers the whole game to be fair.
I think Klopp will need to be very watchful next season, if we get the offensive help we need in the off-season.
Haaland in!
Amen
People say he’s unattainable – but then so too were Malcolm Macdonald, Charlie Nicholas, Dennis Bergkamp and Sol Campbell – until the Arsenal board grew a pair and actually went for it.
I see no reason why we shouldn’t be able to table an attractive offer for Haaland.
Because him and more importantly his cronies (‘Super Agent (Theif) Raiola) will suck every penny than can, it’s already being mooted he’s expecting to command 500K a week from Citeh
The media boys, thankfully, can sometimes get it very very wrong.
Keep the faith. 😉
What a dream that would be……
We move on. Bring on Aston Villa.
This gallant losses do not make them easier to take.
Matches against City, Liverpool and Chelsea are almost certainly losses even before a ball is kicked!
Sickening.
Didn’t we beat all 3 of them 18 months ago when we won the FA Cup and Community Shield?
You thought before the Cit match or the last couple of Liverpool games, that those are certain defeats? I did not. We shot ourselves in the foot far too often. But I have never seen more fight of an Arsenal team in those matches like ever in the last decade. The football is great but needs finishing. I enjoyed the match yesterday, was upset, that we lost, but thought, that we definitly had chances to win it.
The last few years, it was a certain defeat. Now we are quite a bit away from that.
Keep it up gunners
The lads gave their all last night – in terms of effort, they were all heroes.
The fact remains, however, that if you bring back Tommy to replace Cedric and a young world class striker – who has pace and isn’t afraid of heading the ball – to replace Laca, then we are talking a completely different kettle of fish.
Stick Haaland up front for us and Liverpool wouldn’t have won last night.
More chance of haaland joining liverpool though… so maybe we will never win 😩😂
You never know mate, you never know.
Charlie Nicholas, so we were all told, was going to either Liverpool or Manchester United.
Sol Campbell, so we were all told, was going to either Manchester United, Liverpool or Real Madrid.
The rest, as they say, is history…..
Baring a rare goalkeeping error, this game turned on our lack of finishing ability. I think Pepe is the only player I would be confident of in a one on one and his general play doesn’t get him into the team.
We need a striker to finish Martinelli’s brilliant run along the byline and Odegaard fell short when he had a great chance.
Scheduling/Shmeduling Arteta has to earn his money now. He’s done brilliantly this season with this squad of young talented players, but they are still learning to handle league pressure at the ‘business end’. This may be the reason uncharacteristic mistakes are creeping into our defense of late. Sustaining team confidence after last night is key. Arteta has to make sure chins don’t drop, mental sharpness wins over mental fatigue, and the great team mentality he’s developed isn’t interrupted for multiple matches before it returns. Villa away is now obviously far more important than if we’d drawn or won last night.… Read more »
By my calculations we need 20/21 points.
So far we have averaged 1.88 ppg and that would maintain 1.88.
If we do that assuming we don’t lose both games to United and Tottenham we should be safe
Agreed. I’m hedging a little bit conservatively. But, yes, it’s very doable with even a 20 point return from the remaining matches…
Do we dare to start Martinelli up front and Rowe on the left? Do we dare to put our $ into CM and a winger from $ generated from torreria and leno sales, and make Martinelli 1st choice?