Arteta apologises to Arsenal fans over ‘unacceptable’ defeat to Liverpool

ARSENAL manager Mikel Arteta cut a frustrated figure on Saturday night after his side were humiliated at home by Liverpool.

The Gunners put up timid resistance at the Emirates Stadium in Saturday night’s last Premier League match, losing 3-0 to the outgoing champions.

Diego Jota came off the bench to score twice and Mohamed Salah added the third goal in a ruthlessly efficient display by Liverpool who dominated most of the match.

Arteta begged Arsenal fans for forgiveness when he spoke moments after the match.

“First of all, I apologise to our supporters for the display and the show that we saw today that I am very, very disappointed about,” the Spaniard told Arsenal Media. “When you don’t do the basics right against a team like Liverpool, you don’t have any chance even to complete in the game, which is exactly what happened.

“It’s unacceptable. At that level it’s unacceptable. To not be at 100% is unacceptable to our people and for a lot of work that we put in so what happened today is nowhere near what we want to do.” 

Arsenal were in decent form going into the international break, losing only one of their seven matches, and Arteta had expected much much from his team than the total surrender against Jurgen Klopp’s side.

“It gives you a really bad gut feeling,” he admitted. “It’s a big shock to the system that one. We weren’t expecting that one the way they were training, the way they’ve been playing but I can put it down to the level that Liverpool played today, which was really, really high as well. But ours was so far [below], so bad – it was unacceptable.”

Arsenal’s next fixture is the UEFA Europa League quarter-final first leg at home against Slavia Prague, the Czech club that eliminated Leicester City and Rangers.

Arteta acknowledged that Arsenal cannot afford to be as poor against Peter Olayinka and his colleagues.

“Talking on the pitch, outside the pitch, in the dressing room, in front of the cameras is easy,” he added. “We have to put our head down, take all the shots and the criticism because we deserve that and show a different face on Thursday.”

Liverpool boosted their chances of a top four finish with Saturday’s win, moving to within two points of fourth-placed Chelsea with 49 points from 30 matches, while Arsenal are stuck in ninth with 42 points.