Mikel Arteta refused to blame the Arsenal fans in the stadium following Sunday’s defeat to Manchester United, insisting his players were below their usual standards.
Arsenal suffered their first home defeat of the season on Sunday, losing 3-2 to Manchester United to end a six-game unbeaten run in the Premier League against the away side.
The last time Arsenal had lost a league game at home to United was in 2017, with Arsene Wenger still managing the club.
More importantly, with Arsenal seeing their lead at the top of the Premier League table cut to four points, the loss allowed Manchester City and even Aston Villa back into the title race.
Arsenal’s strong recent record against United and the importance of picking up three points understandably led to frustration in the crowd when the game slipped away from the team. Yet some have since apportioned blame to the supporters for the ‘nervous energy’ transmitted to the team.
Speaking to the media after the game, Mikel Arteta was asked whether he believes there was nervousness in the ground.
“We have to understand that we all want to win and the crowd is trying to be behind the team to make the best decisions and to win the game and we need to go through that,” Arteta responded.
“We know that we were below par, especially in certain individual standards and when that happens the margin becomes very, very close and today [United] made those margins bigger because the individual quality that they have made the difference in the game.”
When pushed on rumblings of discontent following the result, Arteta was clear that it’s normal for a club with high expectations.
“That’s part of the demands and expectations that we want to win and that’s it, and individually everybody can react in the manner that they need,” Arteta said.
“It doesn’t matter, we have to do more so maybe that’s not enough and we have to do more, there is nothing else.
“We have to do our very best, when you do that you can rest in peace, and today we really certainly tried to do our very best, but we weren’t efficient enough against a team that is very well organised and we got punished because of our own mistakes as well.”
The reality is that those mistakes that Arteta refers to happened largely when the fans were on side and supportive.
There wouldn’t have been a single fan complaining in the lead up to Martin Zubimendi assisting Bryan Mbeumo’s goal. Everyone would have been delighted and enjoying the lead before the error itself.
Similarly, everyone was in good spirits, urging the team on and singing Mikel Merino’s song when the team opened up and allowed Matheus Cunha a free shot at goal for United’s winner.
It’s true that the fans can put more pressure on the players at times, but for a team that wants to win trophies there’s no excusing the way Arsenal played, nor the fact it’s now three Premier League games without a win. No one is going to hold your hand over the finish line.