Mikel Arteta was furious after we lost to Brighton on Saturday - and admitted the result “is all our fault”.
Nicolas Pepe’s goal gave us the lead on the south coast, before Lewis Dunk poked in an equaliser and then Neal Maupay struck the winner in injury time.
Afterwards, our head coach faced the media and this is what he said:
on how difficult it was to take this result…
Obviously after a defeat you want to put the next result straight away to winning. I think we did a lot of things today to win the game comfortably, but we haven’t competed like you have to compete in the Premier League. We gave first goal away and we lost a few important duels afterwards, so I think it’s all our fault.
on whether he has concerns about the team’s character…
Not about the characters, it’s about how you compete in a Premier League match and it’s for 100 minutes in this case. It’s for every ball, it’s for every action and the moment you lose attention, the opponent is going to punish you. It’s not the first time it has happened and if you want to win football games consistently at this level, it’s a must and it’s a non-negotiable.
on why his players didn’t compete…
I think they competed for large parts of the game, but in crucial moments when you don’t, you pay the price and that’s it. It’s all my fault obviously because I’m the one that has to make sure they do.
on what happened after the final whistle...
I don't know, I haven't see the action. I've seen a lot of players getting together but I don't know what happened. It's the frustration because we've thrown the game away and that's a reaction that can happen but I always believe that a player has no intention to get someone else injured.
on Neal Maupay's post-match comments...
He can say whatever he wants, I know my players and one aspect that they don't miss for sure is humility.
on the challenge to now raise spirits...
Absolutely [it will be hard to do]. I think when you lose two games in a row that hardest thing to do is to lift the players up and believe again in what we are doing. The context of the last game against Man City and this one is completely different. I am much more upset today because I know the accident that happened against City but the accident today was provoked by us and it's unacceptable.
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