Manager Mikel Arteta explained that Arsenal’s usual composure was absent during their League Cup semi final exit against Newcastle United who secured a 4-0 aggregate victory on Wednesday.
Mikel Arteta claimed his team stood ready to reverse their 2-0 first leg deficit but their momentum diminished after Martin Odegaard missed a fantastic opening.
Jacob Murphy converted a rebound to give Arsenal a significant challenge to overcome just two minutes after Odegaard’s missed chance as Alexander Isak’s shot struck the post.
Arteta told reporters that we needed to build momentum right from the beginning to believe we could turn things around in the first half.
To score early you must remain calm and focused. We failed to score in the first half despite having a significant opportunity to do so. Our performance deteriorated during the second half. The match began slipping beyond our control.
Newcastle’s high-intensity pressing game threw Arsenal into disarray right from the start because defenders Gabriel and William Saliba displayed unusual panic under pressure.
Arteta admitted their team showed signs of being unsettled today whenever the game became disorderly or their opponents played aggressively.
We usually maintain composure but in this game we failed to do so which resulted in losing control.
The Arsenal football team will travel to Dubai for warm-weather training during their FA Cup break with Arteta aiming for this to boost their performance in the Premier League title race.
Arteta believes the upcoming period will be difficult but hopes that their Dubai training session will reenergize the team so they can continue fighting for their Premier League title.
Arsenal manager Arteta is hoping Gabriel Martinelli’s hamstring injury isn’t too serious after the player left the pitch limping in the first half.
Arsenal is without both Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka and did not acquire a new forward during the transfer window.
Arteta explained that Gabriel Martinelli felt an issue which he suspected was his hamstring and he decided not to continue playing so we need to perform an MRI scan tomorrow to determine the injury’s severity.