Mikel Arteta denied that the pressure to win the Premier League caused Arsenal to play well and fall 0-1 at bottom team Everton in round 22.
“I don’t think Arsenal is under pressure,” Arteta said after the loss at Goodison Park. “We played a lot of games like that this season. You have to do the basics well, especially in defense. You need to gain control and dictate play. At times, we did that There were times when we didn’t do well enough to get better results.”
The Spanish coach added about how to motivate his students after defeat: “I told the whole team how much I love them. Now I love them more than three hours, a week, a month or three. last month. It’s easy to be with the players when winning. This is when I love the players and the entire team more, and now we are more attached to each other. This journey will be difficult difficult, and there will be bigger challenges in between that we will have to overcome.”
Arteta encouraged Zinchenko after Arsenal lost to Everton in round 22 of the Premier League on February 4. Photo: AFP
Yesterday, Arsenal held the ball 71%, finished 15 times with three shots on target. But it is Everton who create more dangerous opportunities, shown by the home team’s expected goals (xG) statistic of 1.89 – compared to the away team’s only 0.88. The best chance that Arsenal created was Eddie Nketiah’s deflected shot in a face-to-face position in the first half and Martin Odegaard’s cushion into the air at the beginning of the second half.
In the first match under Sean Dyche , Everton played simply and continuously threatened Aaron Ramsdale’s goal from crosses and fixed situations. The difference was created from a corner kick in the 60th minute, when midfielder James Tarkowski pressed Odegaard’s face and headed in from close range, helping Everton win three points.
According to Arteta , Arsenal did not keep calm and let Everton receive free kicks many times in the last 15 minutes. “That’s exactly what Everton wanted, to slow the game down, create controversy, get the ball to the end of the field, create chances from free kicks and not much build-up. We didn’t control this well enough.” , the 40-year-old coach analyzed.
When asked about the team’s reaction after the second defeat in the Premier League this season, Arteta replied: “The best way to do that is to understand who we are and why we reached our current position. and then start getting all the basics right, playing the way we want, improving both individually and collectively. Only then can we win.”
Nketiah – the player with Arsenal’s best chance – praised Everton for carefully planning and preparing for the match. The English striker also believes that Arsenal is not at its best, is sometimes sloppy, and wants to regain its winning streak in the next match against Brentford on February 11. “We want to win every game and the team is very disappointed. Games like that will happen. It’s a long season and things don’t always go as expected, and we know that “, Nketiah added.
