Arteta was furious with his side’s lack of application, pointing to a failure in executing simple tasks. He told reporters: “Extremely disappointed, but first of all we have to congratulate Brighton for the victory. They deserve it. They were the better team.”
The Arsenal manager highlighted his team’s inability to cope with Brighton’s direct approach. “From our side there are certain basics that you need to accomplish in football, especially in the Premier League, that we were very far from,” he added. “[Them] winning the first duel or the second ball puts the game in a really difficult place for us, especially with how direct they were.”
Expanding on the technical flaws, Arteta accused his squad of abandoning their usual style when in possession. He explained: “When we did regain the ball, the amount of technical errors we made … and we didn’t respect any principle of play that you have to get out of those man-to-man situations which put us always on the back foot so it was very difficult to control the game.”
