Mikel Arteta spoke to TNT Sports after Arsenal’s 0-0 draw with Atalanta in the Champions League, and admitted his side weren’t at their best against the Italians.
Here’s what he had to say.
Thoughts on the point?
As I suspected, it was a very tough match. Not the nicest watch to watch because obviously everything becomes a match-to-man game everywhere. We started the game really, really well. Really commanding the game, playing in the areas that we wanted to play, made one or two chances and after that we gave a lot of balls away, very simply.
We could not get any rhythm or momentum, or sequences of passes that would allow us to play in areas that we wanted. And without conceding almost anything about the penalty.
On the save …
Probably one of the best saves that I’ve seen in my career was the penalty, and the second action from David. He was unbelievable again.
On missing chances …
We needed the other end, the two big chances we had with Gabi to put them in the back of the net. This is Europe, they are very different games to the Premier League. A lot of positives, but a lot of things for sure to improve.
Disappointed in your team for not being at the level?
Well, it’s a game that demands the best individually and in order to do that you need to have your players at their best, really composed, really good in duels and certainly tonight we missed that.
Was Riccardo Calafiori a positive when he came on?
Yes, he was really good as well, I thought when he came on, this will help us to get a bit more composure and dominate the game better. But, yes, we need to improve.
Missing our captain…
I think we will miss Odegard big time, specially with Saka down the right. Let’s hope he comes back sooner than expected.
If you have a chance, watch the penalty again. Kai and Jesus had a low start, ready to run into the penalty area and did not even move after the shot. 🙂
Partey is making too many mistakes nowadays.
Saka doesnt look 100% fit and honestly think Mikel should have thought about not playing him for so long. Martinelli looks frightened in front of goal, leaning back and not confidently attacking it. He is lucky that with Odegaard out he is going to get a good run due to Trossard, Havertz and Jesus covering other areas.