Mikel Arteta addressed the media after Arsenal were knocked out of the Carabao Cup on penalties by Fleetwood Town in League Two.
The Spaniard made no bones about the manner of the defeat, though he refused to criticize his players despite Max Dowman suggesting he ignored his pre-match message which centered around Fleetwood’s attempts to rough him up.
Here’s every word Arteta had to say after a thrilling night at Highbury Stadium.
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It was a difficult evening, Mikel. What surprised you? Were you surprised by the result? Were you surprised by the performance? “First of all, congratulations to Fleetwood because they finished it. The way they did it, the atmosphere they created, I have nothing to fault the players in terms of their behavior, their application, the intensity they showed throughout the game. After the goal we conceded, they did it throughout the game, they did it with 110 players. Superior, you don’t give anything to the opponent that we defended very poorly other than our first move and conceded a goal.
“And you create a lot of situations, moves, volume of shots and chances in the opposition pitch. You have to score three, four or five goals and take advantage of that and you see the difference in the game. If you don’t, then it makes no difference and that’s the reality. And then you have to wait and go through the round on penalties and we had that, really, those chances were always low. This is football and even with such a low probability, you can be out of the cup and so are we. we are.” Have you spoken to Max and what did he say about the incident?
“No, I haven’t. You can’t really see what’s going on with the camera. The decision was made by the referee and that’s it. And even with 10 men, we still have three great chances to score the second goal.” Did he apologize? Did he send someone an address? – I don’t know, I haven’t talked to him.
Is there a lesson to be learned from this in the sense that Max was targeted? “When we set up the context of the match, we were very clear about what was expected. What we had to dominate emotionally and it was very clear. Can you tell Max what you said when you went down the tunnel? “Yeah, something we discussed before the game.” Is that part of the magic of English football, on nights like this? “Well, it is, and that’s why football is so much fun, especially in these countries in this competition and things like that. Yes, people’s faith and belief is because there’s a history to it. Unfortunately, we don’t want to go through with it. We are extremely sad, but at the same time, we must congratulate the opponent. Are the players not at home? Injured? Do you regret taking a break? “Calafiori, Noni with an ankle and Declan ended up with a problem the other day. So I had to replace him.” Did you talk to Max about the rudeness? – No, I haven’t talked to him about it.