Kieran Tierney says the Arsenal players need to take responsibility and work hard to change their own situation without making excuses.

mikel arteta vs burnley
Mikel Arteta vs Burnley (Photo by Laurence Griffiths / POOL / AFP)

After another defeat this weekend, Arsenal fans continued to question who or what is to blame for their current run of form. It’s now four consecutive home PL defeats, 15th in the table, 10 points off the top four, and one non-penalty goal in eight PL games.

Kieran Tierney wouldn’t blame Mikel Arteta for any of that, suggesting the players aren’t doing enough to reward their manager’s faith in them.

“We are not showing the manager what we can do and how much we believe in him,” Tierney said. “Every game there are signs we are doing a bit better but it is still not good enough.

“Hard work is the only thing [that can fix this], nothing else for it. There are no excuses. There is nothing I can say that will make people believe a positive thing is going to come out of this.”

In fairness, Tierney’s right that there were some improvements against Burnley. Arsenal created enough chances to win the game before Granit Xhaka’s sending off – a moment of individual stupidity.

As the left-back says, it’s still way below the level Arsenal need to be at. Even when compared to their own performances in the Europa League, the first-choice team displays are awful.

The results are bad too, of course. But it’s the way Arsenal are slipping to defeats in such pathetic fashion that’s so worrying. You rarely feel like they deserved to win any of the games they’re losing, and there’s little enjoyment to be had in the style of play.

According to Tierney, that’s on the players as much as on the manager. So it would be nice to see them putting it right this week, starting with the match against Southampton.