Mikel Arteta believes now is not the time for Arsenal to feel sorry for themselves as they face up to life following yet another defeat.

14 games, 14 points, 12 goals scored and a goal difference of minus six sees Arsenal sit in 15th place just four points from the relegation zone yet some 10 points from the Champions League places.

I think it’s safe to say things are not going well.

“We cannot feel sorry for ourselves,” Arteta told Arsenal.com. “We are losing football matches because of us, nothing to do with the opponent.

“Against Burnley we lost the game without conceding any shots on target, believe it or not, and today again you can see how the team tried and how they tried to play with our limitations, but they always try and fight, and I cannot fault that at all from the players.”

It was a point he had expanded on in his post-match press conference when speaking about Arsenal’s performance.

“Very similar to the last few weeks in that we are proposing everything, we are trying, we are dominating the games but in the small moments, we are losing the games,” Arteta told reporters.

“We lost against Burnley without conceding a shot on target, which is incredible and we lost again today because of an own goal and a set-piece. When we do generate the chances, the situations; the last pass, the last shot, the last moment [isn’t there] or the post, as was the case this weekend and last time [against Southampton]..the luck is not on our side.

“It’s not an excuse, we have to keep fighting, keep believing what we’re doing. I see the boys how they are trying, it’s not about the effort, believe me, but we need to win football matches and it’s not happening.”

Next up for Arsenal is a game against Manchester City in the League Cup which offers something of a break from the league. Arteta has done well in cup games since his appointment, but it’s hard to see Arsenal getting anything from that game.

After that, it’s the visit of Chelsea on Boxing Day then another trip to Brighton which was so much fun last season. If you’ll remember, that was the game that say Bernd Leno injured and Matteo Guendouzi end his Arsenal career.

Happy Xmas everyone.

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