Mikel Arteta branded elements of Arsenal’s performance against Wolves as “unacceptable”, slamming their “passive” and “horrible defensive habits” as they allowed their visitors to equalise late on.
The Gunners eventually prevailed 2-1 thanks to a second Wolves own goal of the night. The win extends their advantage at the top of the Premier League to five points but it was far from a straightforward finale against the division’s bottom club, with a 90th-minute Wolves equaliser almost proving costly.
Arteta described his team as “passive” in the moments before Tolu Arokodare headed Wolves level at 1-1 and said that was more his focus than celebrating the “resilience” of his side to strike back through a Yerson Mosquera own goal in the 94th minute. The Gunners had benefited from the ball going in off goalkeeper Sam Johnstone earlier in the second half.
“We had a period of two or three minutes in deep [block], totally passive with horrible defensive habits,” said Arteta of the final stages. “That’s nowhere near the required level against a team that hasn’t had a single shot. The first time they had the opportunity to do it, they scored a goal. [Wolves’ goal was their third shot.]
“We’re relieved because we managed to score a goal at the end and go and win it but we need to improve in that sense, for sure.
“I don’t put it down to ‘yeah, the resilience [is good]’. We should have stopped the source before. That’s on us.
“You have to give credit to Wolves. I knew that wasn’t going to be an easy game but we made it even harder with the manner we conceded the goal. And that’s unacceptable.”
“You have to give credit to Wolves. I knew that wasn’t going to be an easy game but we made it even harder with the manner we conceded the goal. And that’s unacceptable.”
Arteta explained he had no problem with his team dropping deep. Instead it was their actions within that defensive set-up which he didn’t like.
“We can defend deep because they commit a lot of players. There is the moment you cannot press them. That’s fine. But the level of activity in that block has to be very different to the one that we had.”
As well as frustration at how his side managed the final part of the game, Arteta was also unimpressed with a failure to capitalise on promising positions during a first half in which the Gunners failed to have a single shot on target.
It’s the first time in the Premier League this season they’ve done that – with Gabriel Martinelli miscuing a golden opportunity from close range with a header.
“We had one big chance with Martinelli two yards out, totally free, and didn’t score,” said Arteta to TNT Sports.
“But we struggled once we arrived into the danger zones to pick out red shirts in the box. We had many situations like that. And then we didn’t generate many clear chances. In the second half we did that a bit better and then scored the goal.”
skysports.com