Mikel Arteta Speaks About Crucial Loss To Man City

Mikel Arteta, the manager of Arsenal, believes that the team’s home loss to Manchester City is all their fault.

Despite having played one more game, the outcome puts City ahead of Arsenal in the Premier League standings on goal differential.

He said:

“At the end it is disappointment because we lost. And I mean We lost it. It was an incredible battle between two teams and when we had them we gave them the goals. On the other hand, we had three big chances and we did not put them away.”

“To beat them we have to be above our level because of the quality they have. We matched them and had them in moments, but the games are defined by individual moments in the box and they were better than us.”

“We were really imprecise in starts of play, we didn’t read situations well enough and played fast when we didn’t have any advantage and put ourselves in trouble. OK, we can accept that. But the way we gave away the goals at this level, it is not possible.”

“I didn’t see any difference there with City in the second-half. They went man to man in many situations. We got out of the press in some situations but we didn’t understand when to play and what type of balls to play in certain areas and we got punished.”

“The atmosphere and performance were really good if you take away that we gave Manchester City three goals. I don’t know what more I can demand from the players to match that level. They are the best team in the world and we matched that level. After it is just about doing certain things better to beat them.”

“I have more belief [to win the league] because I see a team going head-to-head with them. You have to go to the next one and in three days we have another game. I have more belief in my players.”