Mikel Arteta explains where Arsenal went wrong vs Manchester United
Arteta was asked by the media after the game if Arsenal had sat back after gaining the lead again. They didn’t, he didn’t believe.
“I believe we were clumsy in possession,” Arteta explained.
“We surrendered the ball to the opponent and were not under any pressure.” That gave them a lot of momentum and gave them the structure they needed to play – and then we started giving the ball away.
“They made so many unforced errors that they believed they could make a difference in the game.” I didn’t see a team with the handbrake; instead, I saw a group that tried to impose (their) will on the situation. We played with the right structure and freedom at the same time because they were dominant.
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“However, we didn’t defend our box well enough, and we didn’t control some situations well enough to concede in the manner that we did.”
After that, Arteta was asked how he keeps them from dozing off after scoring. “Well, I don’t know,” he admitted, his voice trembling.
“It’s challenging because you have to make judgments when you have possession of the ball – and I want to encourage them to do what they feel.” But you know that when you play against those teams, you’re going to get punished right away because of the quality and quantity of players they have available to play (against) you right away.”
Arsenal took the lead thanks to a weird goal that Martin Atkinson would have disallowed if given the chance.
On the night, VAR gave United a replay of Fred winning a Pires-style penalty, but Arsenal were refused one after Takehiro Tomiyasu was brought down in the box by Harry Maguire.
