Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta insisted he wasn’t surprised with the intensity of the home crowd at Goodison Park but remains disappointed with how his players handled the situation in their 1-0 defeat at Arsenal.
James Tarkowski’s headed goal on the hour mark inflicted only a second Premier League defeat of the season on the table-topping Gunners, who hadn’t been beaten since their 3-1 reversal at Manchester United back on September 4. It was the Blues' first win since October and represented the perfect start for new manager Sean Dyche.
Arteta, who played for Everton between 2005-11 before joining Arsenal, said: “I think Everton were really good and I have to congratulate them first for the way they have turned things around to win the game because they were really efficient. From our side, we’re disappointed because obviously we didn’t get the result we wanted as well and the performance doesn’t reflect what we’ve been doing.
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“This was especially in two phases: one where they were really direct and we struggled to control that type of game and play the game that we wanted to play and then with the amount of open situations that we generated in the final third that has to finish with goals from the clear cut chances, much more than what we’ve done today.”
The Spaniard added: “We cannot control the energy that they’re going to have. I said to them that the energy was going to be exactly how it was.
“It was a case of what we could do in the game to try and keep them as quiet as possible and try and generate frustration. There were moments that we’ve managed to do that and moments in which we just gave them the opportunity to get to that stage.”
Arteta admitted that his players’ decision-making also came into question, especially in the latter stages as they chased the game. He said: “In the last 12-15 minutes especially after we made the changes, we started to give away a lot of free kicks and make rash decisions which is exactly what Everton wanted.
“We’ve played a lot of games this season like that but that is why they train every single day, you have to adapt to that and do the basics, defending really, really well to get control and the right to play. For moments we did it, for other moments we didn’t do it well enough to be more dominant in the game.”
Despite the setback, the 40-year-old, who was a darling of the Gwladys Street during his time on Merseyside, maintained that his feeling about Arsenal’s players remains as strong as it’s ever been. Arteta said: “For the team I want them to know how much I love them. I love them more now than I did three hours ago, a week ago, a month ago, three months ago.
“It’s very easy to be next to a player when they’re winning and performing but this is the moment that I love my players more and now we need to stay together. This journey is going to be a difficult challenge and there are going to be bigger stones in the river we’re going to have to overcome.”
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