This season, in the Premier League, we have been waiting for several years now for the fierce title race between Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal. Mikel Arteta’s club has been the rival of Pep Guardiola and his flock over the last two seasons. And inevitably, after narrowly missing the title each time, Gunners supporters hoped to break this curse in the current year. But after great things on the pitch in recent months, Arsenal has been experiencing major difficulties for several weeks. This Saturday, against Newcastle, William Saliba’s teammates confirmed their bad luck by conceding another defeat (0-1).
With this result, the London club finds itself a little left behind by the competition after only ten days. If Manchester City, defeated at Bournemouth, was unable to take advantage of the Gunners’ poor performance, the Reds, who defeated Brighton, are now 7 steps ahead of Arsenal. But beyond the result, it is above all in the content that the London club greatly disappoints. Against the Magpies, in addition to suffering a second away defeat in a row (a first since May 2022), Mikel Arteta’s men seemed helpless, without ideas. Statistical proof with only one shot on target in this match at the very start of the first period.
Mikel Arteta already under pressure
“We deserved to lose today. I think we started really well and were really dominant. We didn’t defend the area well enough. This is to their credit. They scored a great goal with a good ball. Then the game changes and you start playing a different game. You have to adapt and we haven’t done it well enough. I’m very frustrated. We got sucked into a game that they’re constantly looking for and we weren’t able to make the game we wanted to. We had two big chances, Mikel had one, Declan had a big one. We lacked answers”coldly analyzed Mikel Arteta who therefore regretted the lack of offensive efficiency of his team in this match.
“We can say whatever we want. We will struggle to find the words today. We have to show it on the field Wednesday evening. You have to be at your best every time to give yourself a chance to win.”added the Spanish technician, annoyed. An analysis shared by French international William Saliba who also felt that his team deserved nothing other than defeat this Saturday afternoon. “We are all a little sad because we wanted to win today. Unfortunately, we didn’t do it and we didn’t play the game we wanted to play. We deserved to lose today I think. I think we didn’t play the way we wanted and they were good too.”noted the French international defender before calling on his teammates to react as quickly as possible.
“It doesn’t matter, we are focused on next week and it’s not over. Today they scored early and we couldn’t get the equalizer. We must stick together. Last season we had a period like that and we have to stay together and have the confidence to come out. We all believe we will come back”. A lucid observation but which will not make Arsenal supporters lose their temper who are starting to seriously point the finger at Mikel Arteta and his work. Obviously, in these cases, the coach is quickly targeted and put under pressure. The Gunners will have to hope for missteps from the competitors this weekend, but above all get back on track quickly. This will involve victories against Inter in C1 on Wednesday but especially in the shock against Chelsea on the next PL day. It’s not won…
