Mikel Arteta’s anger was evident and understandable after Arsenal fell short in their defeat to Aston Villa, leaving their team NINE points adrift of the top four.
- Arsenal’s poor form continued with a 1-0 defeat against Aston Villa at Villa Park
- It is understandable that Mikel Arteta was frustrated by the misfortune of his team
- His anger turned to referee Chris Kavanagh and, rightly, to his players as well
After five fruitless days, Mikel Arteta’s frustration was evident and understandable.
It was aimed primarily at referee Chris Kavanagh, facing full-time after another match in which Arsenal had reason to complain about the decisions.
But also, and rightly so, also to his team.
Mikel Arteta’s anger became apparent after Arsenal were again in the defeat against Aston Villa
Because from two trips to the Midlands, 23 attempts and great periods of dominance in Molineux and Villa Park have produced only six efforts on goal, one goal and zero points.
Arteta stated that both games highlighted the flaws that teams wanting to challenge for the Champions League simply can’t show up, being too prone to costly defensive errors and lack of ruthlessness in attack.
A bad combination of problems for any manager.
The anger of the coach was directed at his players and referee Chris Kavanagh after bad decisions
After the pre-Christmas fall, Arsenal’s seven-game unbeaten win raised hopes that the top four would not be out of reach.
And while not all has been lost yet, at least mathematically, damaging defeats like the last two never seem too far away with Arsenal, which will always slow them down, regardless of the improvements Arteta has made.
The Wolves produced their best half of the season and should have been well ahead.
Then a slight misjudgment of David Luiz, no matter how hard the decision seemed, earned him a red card, a penalty on the premises and things from there were unraveled.
Ollie Watkins got the winner at Villa Park after his attack deflected just past Mat Ryan
In Villa, the error occurred in the early hours, a mix between Cedric Soares and Gabriel that resulted in the winner of the second minute of Ollie Watkins.
The rest of the game was controlled by Arsenal, except, of course, when they were neglected in their possession and presented Villa with other opportunities to score, but their former goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez was largely calm. lizat.
Only three out of 14 Arsenal efforts proved it.
Like at Wolves, Arsenal did a lot of good things, but it was short when it mattered.
Arsenal controlled the rest of the game, but fell short again when it came to Villa Park
First with the mistake before Villa’s goal and then when they chased one and had to make the right final decision during their periods of pressure.
They ended the game with six attacking players on the pitch, but Martin Odegaard summed up his struggles when he opened up a presentable late opportunity.
Arteta said, “I’m not really interested in possession, it’s the positions we take with that possession. With the numbers we produce in the last third, we have to hit the target at least 10 or 12 times.”
If Arsenal were, there is a better chance that the defensive vulnerability could also be documented.
Arteta insisted that his team must attack well, or at least defend well, to win their matches.
Arteta added: “If you don’t do one thing, you have to do the other. If you don’t do one, you don’t win football matches.”
Houses are a good example of the value of keeping things fit in the back. Manchester City alone have more than 11 clean sheets and as long as they remain stingy on defense, they will always have a chance to score points.
Martinez said: “I want to keep a few more (clean sheets) to help us qualify for Europe. We all dream of finishing in the top six.”
