Mikel Arteta intends to show his players the love they deserve this week despite defeat at Everton putting a dent in Arsenal’s title ambitions.
So slick and organised for the majority of this season, the Gunners struggled to build any momentum in the Goodison Park bearpit and could hardly argue with the result as Sean Dyche kicked off a new era on Merseyside with a 1-0 win courtesy of James Tarkowski’s second half header.
So often spiky when facing the media in the aftermath of poor performances, on this occasion the manager accepted his side were second best and set the tone for a week of rebuilding confidence with a public show of support for his young squad.
“These are the moments when I love my players more and my staff more and we’re going to stay together,” said Arteta in his post-game press conference.
“This journey is going to be difficult and challenging and there are going to be big stones in the middle and we have to overcome that.”
Arsenal dominated possession for long periods of the first half but those periods of calm were pockmarked by moments of chaos as Everton smashed into challenges and worked high balls, many from set pieces, into Aaron Ramsdale’s penalty box. Dominic Calvert-Lewin had a couple of fine opportunities and Amadou Onana and Abdoulaye Doucoure also came close.
It was more of the same in the opening 15 minutes of the second period, at which point Arteta sent on Jorginho for his debut in place of Thomas Partey, who in the build-up to the game had been struggling with a rib injury. Inside a minute, the Toffees broke the deadlock with Tarkowski climbing high at the back post to head home.
With something to hold onto, Dyche’s players threw themselves into every tackle earning hearty roars from the crowd who approved of their efforts. Increasingly frustrated by their failure to get a foothold in the game, Arsenal became ragged, gave away silly free-kicks and saw time slip away.
“I think Everton were really good,” said Arteta of his former side. “We have to congratulate them first for how they’ve turned things around and I think they made it difficult to win the game because they were really efficient.
“From our side, it’s a disappointment because we didn’t get the result that we wanted and the performance doesn’t reflect what we’ve been doing especially in two phases; one, when they were really direct and we struggled to control that type of game and get back to the game that we wanted to play, and then with the amount of open situations that we generated in the final third that has to finish with goals and clear cut chances more than we’ve done today.
He added: “In the last 10 or 15 minutes, particularly after we made the changes, we started to give away a lot of free kicks and a lot of rash decisions which is exactly what they want.”
Arsenal face Brentford in a week’s time – a perfect opportunity to get back in the groove – before a crunch showdown with Manchester City on 15 February. If it wasn’t already squeaky bum time, it certainly is now.
The heat is on but we move. COYG!!!
TP went off and then we lost. Seems like a pattern emerging…
We were already on the road to defeat. He looked uncomfortable in the game. How the squad reacts is key and Arteta has played that well – Regroup, learn and go again!
yep, it was a shit game for us but let’s put it behind us and go forward. still a PL title to play for!!!! COYG!!!!!
I hope not as he is somewhat injury-prone as we know. Even so, we have Jorginho now don’t we.
The less Jorg plays the better – he most certainly wasn’t signed to replace Tommy. We need TP fit and healthy and at the top of his game. He’s vital to this team.
I put it down to Sean Dyche and new manager bounce. We weren’t on our game today, but onwards and upwards. Last time i remember talk of “Together” at The Arsenal, it was Sol Campbell rallying the troops and it all turned out alright 😀
I’m just wondering if you actually pushed Sean Dyche off a fifty foot wall, whether or not he would actually bounce….?
Probably not.
A Humpty Dumpty lookalike fuckwit like him would indeed keep the entire Guards and Household Division Troopers busy putting back together his microscopic brain cells and the vast acres of red raw shredded larynx.
Apparently Everton are THE “new manager bounce” team.
That’s 15 new managers winning their first game on the trot. Always a false dawn though.
I guess their best route to success would be to change the manager every week…
😂
That’s both really funny, and horribly sad. I’ve little sympathy for fans of other clubs, but spare a thought for these poor souls.. (..and then promptly forget about them, as we’re still top of the league!)
Nah, fuck ‘em.
Who’s forcing them to support Everton….? Only themselves to blame.
Get ready for a pyjama party 🎉🎉
Is Sean Dyche the model for Graham the test crash dummy?
They are twins.
Ah, the Crash Test Dummies. Where did you go, 90’s? Please come back! All is forgiven!
Fatboy Slim. Red Hot Chilli Peppers. Nirvana. Korn. Limp Bizkit. Blur.
Didn’t like Oasis. Blue Manc giant eyebrow twats.
Manic street preachers. Mogwai. PJ Harvey. Tool.
91, 93, 94 and 98 were defintely the best years of the 90’s ❤
2 Premier League Titles, 2 FA Cups, 1 Cup Winners Cup, 1 League (Coca Cola) Cup and 2 Charity/Community Shields + a drawn won. The 90’s were rather good 😀
We narrowly avoided winning the title in ‘92, should have had another European Cup Winner’s Cup in ‘95 and won the Premiership and FA Cup Double in ‘99.
The thinnest of margins kept us from that little lot.
But, hey, we still did alright, didn’t we?!! 😉
Hmmm, hmmmm, hmmmm…? I don’t know?
Dyche is the model for Human Testicle.
Yep. A ‘Viz’ character, if ever there was one
’Dyche The Growling Testicle.’
squeaky bum time in the first week of February? Even if there hadn’t been a World Cup break that’d be a bit of a stretch
We really needed a striker. Nketiah can’t play every match for 90 minutes.
nonsense. a 23 year old buzzing with confidence can’t play every seven days?
He can play once a week for 90 minutes and we have our number one striker returning in the coming weeks. As well as an excellent young striker on loan returning next season. I think there are other areas of the squad that will need significant investment. The drop off when Partey isn’t on it or on the pitch is obvious.
I don’t really agree about Eddie. Also, Arteta is clearly OK with a strategy of having goals shared around several players rather than relying more on an “out and out” goal scorer of the type we’ve seen before. Much of the club’s effort in the last window centred around two young and very expensive players – neither of whom was such a striker and neither of whom we signed. We simply have to go with what we have now – and the “goal sharing” option – and hope that it’s enough for the remaining half or so of the season… Read more »
Martinelli could dep up front for the Europa games if needs be, to give Eddie a rest.
And anyway, Gabby J will be back before you know it.
No need to panic, it’s all part of the process. All champions except for the Invincibles have suffered defeats like this. We’ll just need to win vs City at home, I hope we are fired up for the next few games as our margin of error is running thin now.
Certainly no need to panic as you say, but it’s reassuring to know that we “just” need to win against City – assuming our margin of error isn’t lowered because of any of those other games I guess. I think it would be safer just to take each game as it comes really – Brentford next, and move on from there.
I increasingly respect and appreciate Mikel Arteta as a thoughtful man and elite manager. We’ll need to show that we’re able to respond to this loss (such setbacks are all but unavoidable in a Premier League season) if we aspire to become champions.
We did the same thing last year when Everton desperately needed a win. I know as a club we donate a lot to charity, but this is getting ridiculous!
I missed the first half, but one thing I noticed we didn’t do much is with Ben White and Zinchenko going down the wings doing overlaps to give Saka and Martinelli/Trossard some options. Every time Saka/Martinelli or Trossard had the ball we didn’t have a decoy on the wings. Too many long balls and predictable passes cutting in from the wings. Just a poor day at the office and Brentford will not be an easy game either. We really need to pick up the pace next game.
It’s been too long since we’ve seen Martinelli or Saka just run past opponents. Our game seemed slow. Lately they’ve gotten the ball on the wing, and stopped, looked for a pass back (Martinelli) or maybe a run to the inside (Saka). It must be “the plan” as it’s so obviously different from when we fell in love with Martinelli, challenging one or two guys, running at them, past them, and into the box. It’s like the “White overlapping with Saka” has become the replacement, and when that doesn’t happen, a quick ball to Saka is no longer an instant… Read more »
As the article mentions, the next PL game is home against Brentford – but no push overs, I would suggest. They must surely be the PL team who punches most above their weight this season. Let’s hope Arteta can get the winning mentality back for that game – just in time for City.
The substitutions were an absolute amateur piece of management. It hand to end somewhere. If he doesn’t make any more poor decisions like today, we should hopefully still get top 4. A team that loses to no hopers like Everton (& I don’t give a fudge about new manager bounce, they’re still sh*t!) have no chance on the title.
Thank goodness you are nothing to do with any decisions being made at the club.
Completely agree. Although I fail to see how that’s got anything to do with disagreeing with the substitutions or that if we had any hope of winning the league, beating teams like Everton is a must. But I’m sure you’re right. I’m sure it won’t mean anything.
Whom would you have brought on for Partey who was struggling with a rib injury, Mr FM manager?
And bringing off Odegaard?
City drew with Everton. AT HOME!!
Come off your high horse…
Oh right, so just because others are shit it’s ok that we are as well? Great attitude.
Surely Arteta should resign as the complete no-clue amateur he is after giving us the best league start in recent memory, with the youngest squad in the league. The man is obviously a liability, and what ever decision he makes that isn’t immediately transparent, is obviously not a well considered move, it’s utter madness, and he has completely lost the plot. Thank you for your insight.
I have read some daft comments in my time 🤣
If we were in the form that Liverpool or Chelsea are going through then yes I would understand it.
But we narrowly lost one game. it was always going to be a very difficult game for Arsenal – more difficult than the United or Spurs games.
Time to forget it and move on toward the game against Brentford.
Why was it going to be difficult? Because douche is charge? Please. Barring Ramsdale & Pickford, our 10 are gigantically better than theirs. I’m not saying it should have been an easy win but a definite win it should have been.
It was difficult because they had a new manager and all teams, no matter how bad they are rise to the first game under a new manager. Had Lampard still been there we would have the three points..
Spot on.
Mate, if you knew anything at all about football, you’d have already been well aware that playing sides at the bottom of the table involved in a relegation scrap is always difficult solely because they are fighting for their lives! A bottom club under new management playing their first game is going to be even more difficult – everyone is busting a gut trying to impress the new boss. We were always on a hiding to nothing yesterday – they pressed us, particularly Odegaard and our wide players, for the whole 90+ Add in a rejuvenated relentless home crowd desperate… Read more »
Bottom of the league, mew manager, blah blah blah. Always such a pathetic excuse. The invincible, the united teams under fergie, the Liverpool teams of the 80s & 90s didn’t accept that nonsense. These are all excuses.
The Invincibles had to come from behind to draw with Portsmouth, a United team under Fergie lost at Southampton and blamed it on the grey kit they were wearing, Liverpool won most of their titles in the 80’s via innumerable lucky 1-0 Ian Rush penalty victories at Anfield – there has been a good deal of football ‘nonsense’ that went against the scripts of terrace folklore. Every team has off days. Every team. Yes, even Arteta’s Arsenal of 2022/23. To suggest otherwise as ‘an excuse’ whilst conveniently ignoring the fact that there hasn’t and never will be a single team… Read more »
At least we are not Tottenham.
Ah yes, the team who will likely be pasted at home by city tomorrow and then pretend they are happy because it allows them to catch us. Deluded losers.
I dunno.
I fancy Kane Man or perhaps the unmasked Boy Blunder himself to get amongst the goals tomorrow.
You never know….
Perhaps Romero, the dirty cunt, can kick that lanky streak of pony tail piss up in the air and proper injure him.
Hope springs eternal….😉
The Spuds won 🤣
That’s like finding a swimming pool full of Dom Perignon with a turd floating in it.
I wonder if Gary Neville’s finished wanking yet……
🤣
He has to find it first lol so that could take some time 😜
Maupay is a cunt.
That needs to be sprayed in the largest font possible on the Great Wall of China – so that any Martians up on the moon will know exactly where the Earth’s at.
“Fancy invading planet earth today OB 1 Davros. Dot….?”
“No XSpunk 10. Dot. Fuck that shit. Dot. They have Neal Maupay. Dot. And he is a cunt. D-D-D-Dot.”
This was the match where Jesus would have been very useful. Nketiah link up play in the middle is still far behind Jesus.
Yea I have to agree with this. Today was the first real day I thought we really missed him. Credit to Eddie it’s taken this long but can’t wait for G.jesus to come back…
Eddie still has a major role to play and not wanting to take anything away from the kid, but as you say Paul, we missed Jesus today.
I’m sure I’m wrong again but is no one even in the slightest bit concerned that of the 2 teams who went ultra compact and defensive against us (Everton n and Newcastle) we failed to score in both?
Don’t want to sound like a cunt but signing that Chelsea cunt is the only reason we fucked it. He’s poison, no fault of his own other than being a disgusting Chelsea cunt. Bad vibes.
Lol fuck off with that shit you moron. New scapegoat found for everything that goes wrong I guess? Despite he was one of eleven on the field and only played 15 minutes?
Haha. Nice one Baz. Good to know personal attacks happen here as well as on twatter. You moron.
You’re my new scapegoat you moron.
By the way, I hate Chelsea and I’m proud. Also my post was a joke you fucking moron.
If that was a joke, I suggest you go brush up on your sarcasm.
OK, an even dafter comment 🤣🤣
Lol. Lol. Lol. What a daft comment.
Only three teams are unbeaten in their last 5 matches: look at this list – Newcastle, Brentford, Nottingham
XD
I can’t believe I am going to say this, but thank you, Harry Kane. You did us a huge favour today. Love him or hate him, a fantastic striker, and to think we let him go as an Arsenal junior!
An important win for us. Romero being sent off was good too. Højbjerg, what a total diving cheat!
An even dafter comment lolz
It’s not often I feel happy when Spuds win but today is that day. Fuck me they are a dirty horrible team. Disgusting! But hey ho, their win is out gain.
Well done Harry me ole eternally opened mouth mucker!
City lost, pep got it all wrong… Sp*ds were just there by accident 😅
And then Spurs go and do us a favor….
As disappointing as it is to lose seeing City and Liverpool both lose again and Chelsea and Newcastle dropping points again (though I know Liverpool and Chelsea are not threats to us this season softens the blow a bit. Winning away matches in the PL (esp after a new manager takes over) is tough no matter a team’s standing in the table. It does sting though that we could have had an 8 pt lead over City with a game in hand had we won.
Yep but 5 points clear with a game in hand ain’t bad.. Bring on Brentford at the Emirates. COYG!!!