Petr Cech and Jack Wilshere both issued heartfelt apologies after Arsenal’s 2-1 defeat to Brighton on Sunday afternoon.
Cech quite rightly took responsibility for the two goals he let in at the AMEX, which put Arsenal 2-0 behind within 26 minutes of the tie.
The 35-year-old, who’s generally been poor this season, didn’t make any excuses and genuinely seemed gutted. And although he exactly say ‘sorry, the tweet came across as a heartfelt apology.
If you want to win a game away of home in the best league in the world your GK can’t concede 2 goals like I did today … it’s simply not possible … The team fought back but the damage was done .
— Petr Cech (@PetrCech) March 4, 2018
Arsene Wenger applauded the goalkeeper for owning up to his mistakes. Although it’s a shame the manager can’t seem to do the same for his. At least not in the same way.
“It deserves a lot of respect because it’s his assessment of his performance,” Wenger said of Cech’s tweet, reported by the Evening Standard.
“He’s a very intelligent guy, a very professional guy.
“He has saved us on other occasions.
“Today he cost us [with] mistakes. But as a manager and a club we have to live with that.
“When the players do well you take the credit. When the players don’t do well you have as well to live with it.”
Jack Wilshere, who’s been at the club since he was nine, also took to social media in order to urge Arsenal fans to stick by their team during this difficult period.
I'm sorry to the gooners out there. You deserve better. Thats all i have to say. I know its difficult at the moment in this difficult period we are going through as a team but we need you. We will do better but please stick with us ❤ pic.twitter.com/UTsCdXkQmB
— Jack Wilshere (@JackWilshere) March 5, 2018
Although most fans can probably understand what the 26-year-old is saying, it’s hard to stand by a club that doesn’t appear to want to change when it so obviously needs to.
Of course we will stand by the club because it’s Arsenal – it existed before Arsene Wenger and it will exist after – but any amount of enthusiasm, if there is any, has gone out the window.
Arsenal face AC Milan in the Europa League on Thursday and, if Wenger’s men play the same way they did in the first half against Brighton, there’s no way they’re getting a win at the San Siro.