Mikel Arteta’s anger was clear and understandable after Arsenal fell short again in their defeat to Aston Villa – leaving his team NINE points behind the top four.
- Arsenal’s poor form continued with a 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa at Villa Park
- Mikel Arteta was understandably left frustrated after the setback for his team
- His anger was directed at referee Chris Kavanagh and rightly so at his players
At the end of a fruitless five days, Mikel Arteta’s frustration was clear and understandable.
It was primarily aimed at referee Chris Kavanagh, who faced full-time after another match in which Arsenal had reasons to complain about the decisions.
But also, and rightly so, also with his team.
Mikel Arteta’s anger was evident after Arsenal fell short again in their defeat to Aston Villa
Because of two trips to the Midlands, 23 tries and long periods of dominance in Molineux and Villa Park have yielded only six tries on target, one goal and zero points.
Arteta stated that both games highlighted shortcomings that teams looking to challenge for the Champions League simply cannot show – as they are too prone to costly defensive fouls and a lack of ruthlessness on offense.
A bad combination of problems for any manager.
The coach’s anger was directed towards his players and referee Chris Kavanagh after bad decisions
After their slump before Christmas, Arsenal’s undefeated seven-game streak raised hopes that the top four might not be out of reach.
And while not all is lost – at least mathematically – damaging defeats like the latter two never seem far away with Arsenal, something that will always hold them back regardless of any improvements Arteta has made.
At Wolves they produced their best half of the season and should have been well ahead.
Then a minor misjudgment by David Luiz, no matter how harsh the decision seemed, got him a red card, the hosts a penalty kick and from there things unraveled.
Ollie Watkins scored the winner at Villa Park after his attack was deflected just past Mat Ryan
At Villa, the error came early, a confusion between Cedric Soares and Gabriel that led to the second-minute winner of Ollie Watkins.
The rest of the game was controlled by Arsenal, except of course when they had careless possession and gave Villa further chances to score, but their former goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez was largely unconcerned.
Only three of Arsenal’s fourteen efforts tested him.
As with Wolves, Arsenal did many things right but fell short when it mattered.
Arsenal controlled the rest of the game, but again fell short when it mattered at Villa Park
First with the mistake in front of Villa’s goal and then they chased one and had to make the right final decision during their periods of pressure.
They closed the game with six offensive players on the field, but Martin Odegaard summed up their struggles when he wildly overboarded a representative late chance.
Arteta said: ‘I am not really interested in possession, it is the positions that we take with that possession. With the numbers we produce in the last third, we have to hit the target at least 10 or 12 times. ‘
If Arsenal were, it is more likely that the defensive vulnerability can also be eliminated.
Arteta insisted that his team had to attack well, or at least defend well, to win their matches
Arteta added: ‘If you don’t do one, you have to do the other. If you don’t, you won’t win football matches. ‘
Villas are a great example of the value of keeping it tight at the back. Only Manchester City has more than 11 clean sheets and as long as they remain stingy on defense they always have a chance to take points.
Martinez said, ‘I want to keep a few more (clean sheets) to help us qualify for Europe. We all dream of finishing in the top six. ‘
