“We weren’t good enough, we simply weren’t good enough in ball possession – we gave so many balls away, we didn’t have enough rhythm, enough purpose, enough threat, and defensively we were second best.
“We couldn’t control them directly, it was so easy for them to win that first or second ball and have the opportunity to run; we conceded two exact goals like we did against West Ham, and if you do that in this league, it becomes really difficult to win.
“When you don’t change the result, they [the subs] didn’t [work]. That’s for sure, it didn’t work in the first half, and it didn’t work in the second half. Throughout 100 minutes, we were never at the levels that we wanted to [be at].”
Asked if the result was down to fatigue, Arteta was clear it was not.
“No, we weren’t efficient enough,” he said. “We didn’t have enough ball speed, enough movement, enough threat, and when we did that, we gave too many balls away. Not only when we were playing, but after regaining it straight away, which is the most dangerous moment to give away.
“When you do that, and you don’t have consistent momentum, we never got set in the final third in the right moments, and you concede two goals like we’ve done, then it becomes very difficult to win the game. Today we didn’t deserve to win the game, and that’s very clear and simple.
“Because you drop games in this league, even if you win with 120 points but in Anfield we lost two points and had a big performance. We lost three points against West Ham but had a big performance. Today was a different story and that’s why we feel sad because we weren’t at the levels that we’ve been at for the other 19 games. That’s the reality.
“We certainly need a reset after today because that’s going to be in our tummy for a few days. The game against West Ham felt very different because you can move on, it can happen. What happened today cannot happen again.
“If you do that, you’re never going to have the chance to be where we want to be. Today it could have been a beautiful way to finish the year top of the league. These are the margins and you have to find the balance.
“It could have been the best day and it can be even the worst day because you have lost a game but we have to look at ourselves in the mirror because today is the worst game that we had this season, that’s for sure.”