Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta reacts during the defeat vs Aston Villa (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
The Gunners suffered only their second loss of the entire season in all competitions, but it now means Manchester City have closed the gap at the top of the table, now sitting just two points behind Arteta’s side.
See below for every word of Arteta’s post-match press conference as he discussed the mood after that result, the latest on Cristian Mosquera’s injury, and more…
Mikel Arteta’s press conference in full
On losing with the last kick of the game…
Obviously we are extremely disappointed with the way we lost the game, but first of all I want to congratulate Villa because they are a really good side, and they are really good at what they do. We had some difficulties in the first half, especially with some very unusual giveaways that we have given after regaining the ball, which is a really dangerous moment against them. But apart from the Watkins situation, which is a foul, I don’t recall anything apart from the goal.
The second half, we started really well, much more positive. We generated chances, scored the goal, and my feeling was that we were going to go on and win the game. We could have lost it before, again with two very dangerous individual giveaways, and we didn’t. We had two chances to score, the last one with the ball across to Declan and we didn’t capitalise on that. The next goal kick [went] long, it goes there, second ball, we put it away for a throw-in, they played fast, a lot of chaos in the box and they managed to put the ball in the top corner, which is the quality of this league, so that’s the summary.
On the impact of the result…
That’s the league. You go to Old Trafford, you go to St James Park, you go to Chelsea, you come here – we’ve been in a lot of difficult grounds and today the result could have been different. The reality is not, and that’s the step that we have to make. We’ve been 18 games unbeaten and still we are there, very close to each other. That’s the level of the league and we know that. That’s the opportunity that we have ahead of us and that’s it. Now it’s time to bounce back. They have given me all the right reasons to think that we’re going to continue to perform at the same level, because what the boys tried to do today, again, with the schedule that we had, it was amazing. So, [we] move on.
MORE: Did you notice these THREE big Arsenal problems in the defeat to Villa?
On if the fixture schedule played a part…
I don’t know. At some point I thought we were going to win it and then there were moments that we gave very strange giveaways that had nothing to do with us. But it’s football as well, but the boys are willing to put absolutely everything in, they tried. The situation with Leo is the same – he could only play a certain amount of minutes. We made the decision to do it [the sub] earlier and we had to do it after, that was the reason we had to change it and learn from it and go again.
On having to rotate the defence due to injuries…
It is what it is, and we have to cope with that for a period of time as well, we know that. And the team has to be able to adapt to that, not look for excuses. Obviously, we know what those two [Gabriel and William Saliba] bring, especially in a game like this. But the other two [Piero Hincapie and Jurrien Timber], I think they were exceptional as well today.
On coming back from behind in previous games…
We try and we’ve done it on many occasions and today I certainly had the feeling that we could do it, but the game was constantly on the edge because we gave two goals away as well. Very dangerous, and in those open situations again, man-to-man in the last line, they are really good at attacking those channels. We’re going to have to learn from it, the way we conceded the first goal as well, very far from our standards, so they are learnings that we can take for ourselves and then give credit to the opponent as well because I think they are a really good side.
On the players’ mood post-match…
Everything that they have put in the last two weeks and the results that we got, the performances and to lose it that way emotionally is very touching. You just feel that everything that you put in, it hasn’t been worth it. But it is worth it, because we will learn again from today and it will make us a better team again.
On coping with the ups and downs of the Premier League…
It’s five months into the competition and so far we’ve coped. But we’re going to have to prove that we can cope again and again and again for another six months, that’s the level. If think we are going to be in this moment with 10 points clear, I think we’re living in a different world.