‘We deserved to lose’: Mikel Arteta has no complaints after Newcastle defeat

Mikel Arteta had no complaints about his facet’s defeat at Newcastle however refused to concede that the title race is all however over.

“I’m very pissed off, we deserved to lose at this time,” mentioned Arsenal’s supervisor after Alexander Isak’s superb first-half header secured Eddie Howe’s crew a primary win in six Premier League video games. “We obtained dragged into the sport Newcastle needed and never the one we needed. However you need to be at your greatest in each sport to offer you an opportunity to win.”

Not that Arteta has deserted hope of overhauling Liverpool and Manchester Metropolis on the high of the desk. His crew are seven factors off the lead. “After 10 video games we’re not going to search out the reply now,” he mentioned. “It’s not about profitable the title, it’s about being our greatest model each week. We now have to place it proper on Wednesday.”

If Arsenal’s impending Champions League date with Internazionale at San Siro guarantees to supply an intriguing litmus take a look at of the crew’s resilience, Arteta should as soon as once more cope with out his key midfielder Martin Ødegaard, who’s injured. “We don’t have him,” he mentioned bluntly. “We will focus on that every one day lengthy however we’ve got many different solutions which can be very efficient.”

These alternate options failed in opposition to a Newcastle facet that even Arteta, who has hardly ever seen eye-to-eye with Howe, appeared grudgingly to admire right here. “They’re actually good at what they do,” he mentioned. “They drag you into the type of sport they need. They’re all massive and really bodily, Joelinton particularly.”

Requested whether or not he wanted an Isak, Arteta demurred, insisting: “No, I really like my gamers and I wouldn’t change them for anybody.”

The Sweden striker, lengthy rumoured to be on Arsenal’s buying checklist, was pondering solely of Newcastle. He described the win as “a little bit of an announcement for us and for the followers” and mentioned: “We’ve had a foul spell however hopefully this could be a little bit of an ice-breaker for us.”

Howe was equally optimistic. “The stress lifted somewhat after beating Chelsea [in the Carabao Cup] final Wednesday however we’ve needed to be actually robust mentally,” he mentioned. “As we speak was 95 minutes of focus and consistency. We managed and managed some excellent Arsenal gamers fairly nicely. We seemed good. It’s simply three factors but it surely means a lot. We hadn’t received for some time within the Premier League. I’m positive it should do us the facility of fine. However now we should be sure this isn’t an remoted second.”