Arteta cites crucial factor for Arsenal’s collapse: ‘It was a terrible performance

In a game that was crucial to Arsenal’s Premier League title aspirations, the Gunners blew a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 against West Ham at the London Stadium. This result leaves them nine points adrift of leaders Manchester City, who have a game in hand.

Arsenal’s recent form has been less than impressive, having dropped points from a winning position in their last two games against Liverpool and now West Ham. Mikel Arteta, the Arsenal manager, was left frustrated and disappointed by the result and did not hold back in his post-match comments.

Speaking to the media, Arteta admitted that his team had only themselves to blame for their latest collapse, stating “We lost that purpose to attack them. Instead we kept the ball for the sake of it and gave them hope.”

The Spanish manager was also critical of his team’s inability to control the game in the second half. He said, “It was terrible how we gave the penalty away. And after that credit to them. They started to play direct, we could not control those situations and got on that rollercoaster where everything is throw ins, corners, corners and throw ins, and we never got away from that.”

Arteta acknowledged that Arsenal’s performance in the second half was not good enough, adding “The purpose we needed for third and fourth goal, I did not see it. Then we started to get sloppy and playing flicks and losing the ball inside too many times and allowing counters, and it broke our flow.”

Arsenal will now have to regroup and focus on their next match against Southampton at the Emirates. They will need to put in a much-improved performance if they are to stay in the title race.