Mikel Arteta following Fulham defeat: ‘We weren’t good enough’

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Arsenal’s tactician Mikel Arteta gave his final statement for 2023 yesterday following their sad end-of-the-year defeat to Fulham. His verdict concerning his team’s performance in the match was that Fulham was better.

The Gunners were among the teams having a promising season before Christmas.

‘We weren’t good enough, we simply weren’t good enough in ball possession – we gave so many balls away, we didn’t have enough rhythm, enough purpose, enough threat, and defensively we were second best,’ he said to Arsenal’s press.

‘We couldn’t control them directly, it was so easy for them to win that first or second ball and have the opportunity to run; we conceded two exact goals like we did against West Ham, and if you do that in this league, it becomes really difficult to win.’

He went on to say sometime during the interview that his team was ‘inefficient’ during the contest.

‘We didn’t have enough ball speed, enough movement, enough threat, and when we did that, we gave too many balls away,’ he said. ‘Not only when we were playing, but after regaining it straight away, which is the most dangerous moment to give away.

‘When you do that, and you don’t have consistent momentum, we never got set in the final third in the right moments, and you concede two goals like we’ve done, then it becomes very difficult to win the game. Today we didn’t deserve to win the game, and that’s very clear and simple.’

What should fans expect from Arteta this year? He did not leave that to guesswork.

‘We need to improve,’ he later said. ‘We want to win games and in order to do that we have to improve with players, so that after 20 league games we have the chance to be the best in the league with these players.

‘They are really good and we’re going to continue to go with them.’