Arsenal lost for the first time in the Champions League this season, as Inter Milan’s first half penalty was enough to give them a 1-0 win.
Mikel Arteta spoke to TNT Sports after the game, and while proud of his players, was unhappy at two first half penalty decisions. Here’s what he had to say.
On how the game went …
I’m very proud of my players and the game we played, the level of domination that we had when we played. I feel like we were very harshly done tonight.
In what sense?
In the sense that it’s obvious.
The penalty?
Yeah, one of them, both.
You feel that Arsenal should have been awarded a penalty.
Well, especially if you’re going to give a penalty in the other box, obviously that one has to be because he punches him in the head.
On Inter’s penalty …
I cannot see [how]. It’s not a shot, it’s just a deflection. There is no danger in the box. There’s nothing you can do. The ball is very, very close to your body, so I don’t know how you can get away from it.
But especially if you’re going to give that one, I think the other one, then it has to be 100% a penalty.
On Arsenal’s chances to score …
For sure, with the amount of situations, chances that we tend to take, we could have scored a couple of goals at least.
But again, the way the team played, that was us tonight. The level of energy, the level of quality, how we arrived in the box, how we dominated a team that is one of the best in Europe in their stadium, I’m very proud of them.
On what’s missing …
Today it was decided in the boxes, which is the Champions League, and every decision in the box makes a difference. It’s clear.
On confidence levels ahead of the weekend ..
The team responds like that. The team plays the way we played tonight here. We can go to Chelsea, we can win.
On Odegaard’s return …
It’s one of the positives we can take as a team.
He has a point, but we also need to be able to break down a deep block, even if Inter are the masters at that and were given the opportunity to play that way thanks to the generous penalty decision. Ødegaard’s return is much needed. Let’s hope he has no reaction to the injury and hits the ground running on Sunday.
FFS….. forget about the penalties.
U get some and you don’t get some.
Move on
Man, you will say this for a CL or WC final?
I mean yeah, the ref is pretty far down the list of reasons we lost. Certainly far below “we can’t attack through the middle” and “we seem incapable of attacking at tempo”
Worrisome that MA thinks that was a good performance at this stage. The creativity was so absent and we relied on aimless crosses and mishit corners. We could of played another 90 minutes and not scored.
What more do you suggest vs a team that sits back and counters with 11 top class players. They won via a dubious penalty, fair. The issue is the players ability they can’t be coached to drop a shoulder past 3 defenders and stick one top corner. If we had Saka / odegaard quality across the front line you tell me we don’t win those games? Inter are one of the best teams in the world and we dictated to them in their own home. You can’t win every game, but surely you can see the bigger picture and progress… Read more »
Agree totally,
Anybody who watched that game tonight, in all honesty ask yourself if inter actually deserved to win that game? Of course they didn’t.We absolutely dominated them in the 2nd half. Yep, we are really lacking the killer instinct in front of goal at the moment (this season), as well as real creativity from the middle of the park, and us as supporters we all know this and it fucking frustrates. But, seriously ask yourself this, if we do progress in this comp, would you be afraid to face them (inter) again? I know I wouldn’t.
Inter got a senior team and their resources are poor compared to ours. But they can find a way even with the old Mikhi.
Look at the numbers spent in transfers!
Inter are the Italian champions, a very difficult side to beat, especially when they’ve got something to protect (lucky/ridiculous penalty). We definitely lacked a cutting edge, but I like the way we retained possession and intensity throughout a lot of the game. Fixable stuff, just need a short break to Dubai in December to get the attacking juices going again.
Yes, I was watching a different game too.
I thought we were good. Still do not see what Merino gives us, though.
Runs about and bumps into people. I dont see what the fuss is yet. But we competed and kept it close.
If we had a game where the ref.doesnt play for the opposition then I think we could have knicked it.
i don’t think we dominated anything at all. inter likes to play this type of game, they conceded the ball and were happy to just sit back and clear any cross knowing we were not gonna score from it even if we were given 100 more minutes. we don’t have the players to be a team that wins games that way. so while we were once again completely toothless (i really can’t take seriously any match in which martinelli is starting at this point) i think they also defended very well. but yeah, not even close to “dominating”
If they are happy to concede the ball why didn’t they just boot it out of play anytime they got it. Fool. We didn’t even let them counter attack do you understand how hard that is
Again spot on.
They are probably one of the top five sides in europe over last 3 seasons. I agree there is no way they “chose” to sit so deep and not have some modicum of possession in the 2nd half.
I think the point you make is reinforced by their players and coaches’ elation, relief and celebration at the end of the match. They hung on.
I thought we were vastly improved in the 2nd half and a bit unlucky not to get a goal. I think if Nwaneri had started or come in earlier we might have got something. He looks really good, a better bet than Trossard at the moment.
Is this the November curse again? Are we in a slump?
When you barely rotate at all, with how our injuries have been, these losses just feel much worse.
This was not a must win, so why not start Nwaneri? Trossard should be competition for Martinelli on the LW. Right now Gabi is playing 180 minutes per week and Trossard is losing confidence cause he’s simply not comfortable in the #8 role. Please stop making one problem into several problems Mikel.
I don’t know if I can stomach Mikel talking about games getting decided in the boxes much longer without someone making a meme out of it. Maybe something involving Brad Pitt in Seven – “Whats in the box?? Whats in the fucking box???” and Mikel’s head on top of Kevin Spacey’s body answering “the game being decided” and Brad Pitt going “you lie! You’re a fucking liar! We lacked any creativity whatsoever!”
😂 bravo
I had a bit of a double whammy last night. Not only did I watch yet another match in which they seemed depleted of attacking movement. My wife, who was also watching remarked that they looked predictable … ‘just like my lovemaking’ 🙁
I’m off to work then.
What do an arsenal’s lack of goals and Lee’s love life have in common?
Neither can be solved by playing with an inverted Zinny.
At this stage, I’d be happier if we said any touch of the ball with an arm is handball. The we wouldn’t have subjective calls. At least it might be a level playing field.
Arteta will off course say these things but we all know: Defending in the box means hands behind your back like Gabriel does and youve all seen many times many players who try to stop crosses or shots with arms behind their back. Please stop with the naivety and the f.a interpretaion of the rules ‘ oh whats he supposed to do blah blah..you need to extend your arms when you jump or defend or block’ Nonsense. The f.a logic and understanding of the game is incredibly idiotic as pgmol proves every week and the ‘analysis’ you see from media.… Read more »
Both campaigns being seriously hampered by poor refereeing decisions.
I remember Van Persie at the Camp Nou. Internationalize the refs for the EPL and the problem doesnt change.
An unpopular view but its what I think. The calls we get in Europe are seldom any better than in the EPL. And the ones we got this year are so bad they require explanation.
I think all we can hope for from refs is consistency.
That’s what’s infuriating about PGMOL. In the same game never mind same weekend, some players are penalised and others aren’t for the same offences.
We got a soft penalty last time out in the CL. Neither should have been given in my opinion. But I still prefer the consistency of European refs.
Let’s just take a moment to laugh at Man City … oh dear oh dear 🙂