Aaron Ramsdale issued a withering assessment of Arsenal’s miserable week in the wake of Saturday’s loss at home to Brighton.
Both Graham Potter’s side and Crystal Palace inflicted potentially terminal blows to Arsenal’s Champions League hopes as rivals Tottenham moved three points clear into fourth spot.
Between Monday’s defeat at Selhurst Park and the loss at the Emirates six days later, Mikel Arteta also lost the services of first-team stars Kieran Tierney and Thomas Partey with both unlikely to play again this season.
While Arsenal do have a game in hand on Spurs, the manner of their recent performances - combined with their injury blows - make it difficult to imagine they will overturn Antonio Conte’s resurgent team, at least not without a significant improvement.
With Chelsea and Manchester United to play before the end of April and a huge north London derby to come in May, Arteta needs a quick-fire reaction from his young team.
Speaking after the game, Ramsdale said: “This was supposed to be the reaction game but it wasn’t. We’ve lost and not managed to pick up any points and next week is even bigger.
“I think we just need to go out there and be free and play our game, you know? It’s a game of football and I think in the first half we were very tense and slow so we just need to go out there next week, trust what the manager and the coaching staff are saying and go and play our football, which we’ve done all season.”
