Arsenal & Arteta ‘very upset’ by Real Betis friendly defeat

Mikel Arteta has suggested that he and his Arsenal players are very unhappy at their performance against Real Betis, even if it was only a friendly.

Arsenal lost 3-1 to Real Betis in their pre-season friendly match in Dublin on Wednesday night, with all four goals coming in the first half, before a number of academy players were substituted on for the second period.

Speaking after the game, Mikel Arteta admitted the senior players were very unhappy with their performance in the first 45 minutes.

“Very upset, even at half time,” Arteta said. “They are fuming, but this is good. That’s what we need.”

Arteta expanded on his complaints in another TV interview, explaining that he doesn’t believe the players competed well enough to deserve a result.

“Always upset when you lose a football match,” Arteta told Premier Sports. “In the first half there are two different things, to play well, and to compete well.

“We did the first one quite well in a lot of moments, but the ‘compete’ part, especially in and around our box, is not to the standards to win a football match against a good side.

“[But] it’s always good when you lose a match in pre-season because it creates a bit more fire in the belly.”

Arsenal will want to put things right back in front of the home support at the Emirates Stadium this weekend, with the Gunners facing Borussia Dortmund in the annual Emirates Cup match on Sunday, August 9th at 14:00 BST.

Arsenal then play Como 1907 in another Emirates friendly on Wednesday, August 12th at 19:30, before preparing for the trip to Wales for the Community Shield match against Manchester City on August 16th.

In preparation for that game, it was good to see Gabriel Magalhaes and Gabriel Martinelli back out on the pitch against Betis, and Martin Odegaard in training at London Colney. They now all face a race against time to be fit enough to start the Community Shield clash.

• Arsenal star rejects move to Italy…maybe
  Gabriel Jesus has reportedly rejected Napoli, leaving the Italian club considering Chelsea striker Marc Guiu as an alternative to the Arsenal forward.
• Declan Rice makes statement on Arsenal title defence
  Declan Rice says Arsenal want to prove they’re a great team this season by winning the Premier League back-to-back.
• Arsenal dominate 2026 PFA Teams of the Year
  Arsenal were big winners at the PFA Awards on Tuesday night, with five men and three women in the Teams of the Year, and Olivia Smith winning the Women’s Young Player of the Year award.
• Arsenal verbally agree club-record £56.5m sale
  Al Hilal and Arsenal have reached a verbal agreement for the club-record transfer of Gabriel Martinelli, according to reports.
• Arsenal transfer target shares & deletes farewell message
  Arsenal transfer target Igor Tyjon has shared and deleted a farewell message to Blackburn Rovers, which included implied criticism of certain individuals at the club.