Mikel Arteta refused to blame Arsenal fans in the stadium following Sunday’s defeat to Manchester United, insisting his players were below their usual standards.
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Arsenal suffered their first home defeat of the season on Sunday, losing 3-2 to Manchester United to end a six-game unbeaten run in the Premier League against the away team.
The last time Arsenal lost a home league game to United was in 2017, with Arsene Wenger still at the head of the club.
More importantly, with Arsenal seeing their lead at the top of the Premier League table reduced to four points, the defeat allowed Manchester City and even Aston Villa to return to the title race.
Arsenal’s strong recent record against United and the importance of picking up three points naturally led to crowd frustration when the game got away from the team. However, some have since blamed the fans for the “nervous energy” transmitted to the team.
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Speaking to the media after the match, Mikel Arteta was asked if he thought there were any nerves on the pitch.
“We have to understand that we all want to win and the crowd is trying to be behind the team to make the best decisions and win the game and we have to go through that,” Arteta said. replied.
“We know we were below average, especially in some individual standards and when that happens the margin becomes very, very narrow and today (United) increased those margins because the individual quality they had made the difference in the game.”
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When prompted by rumblings of discontent after the result, Arteta made it clear that this was normal for a club with high expectations.
“It’s part of the demands and expectations that we want to win and that’s it, and individually everyone can react in the way they need,” Arteta said.
“It doesn’t matter, we need to do more so maybe it’s not enough and we need to do more, there’s nothing else.
“We have to do our best, when you do that you can rest in peace, and today we certainly tried to do our best, but we weren’t effective enough against a very well organized team and we were also punished because of our own mistakes.”
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The reality is that the mistakes Arteta is referring to largely happened when the fans were on their side and supportive.
There wouldn’t have been a single fan who would have complained before Martin Zubimendi assistant That of Bryan Mbeumo aim. Everyone would have been delighted and taken advantage of the lead before the mistake itself.
Likewise, everyone was in a good mood, cheering for the team and singing Mikel Merinos song when the team opened up and allowed Matheus Cunha a free kick on goal for United’s winner.
It’s true that fans can sometimes put more pressure on players, but for a team that wants to win trophies, there is no excuse for the way Arsenal played, nor the fact that it has now been three Premier League games without a win. No one will hold your hand to the finish line.
