Mikel Arteta has admitted his Arsenal players are "really down" after missing another opportunity to revive their push for Champions League football.
The Spaniard had earlier admitted his squad had blown a "huge" chance to make up ground on their rivals after Tottenham were beaten earlier on Saturday. Jan Bednarek volleyed Southampton in front against Arteta's side at St Mary's, and the visitors were kept at bay by Fraser Forster as they sought a way back into the game.
Arsenal's defeat was their third in as many games, after Crystal Palace and Brighton also got the better of them. Former England midfielder Owen Hargreaves backed Spurs to win the race for fourth after the weekend's results, and Arteta's latest comments won't make for easy reading for Arsenal fans.
"They are really down today," Arteta told his post-match press conference. "They are down because they cannot find the right answer apart from what we can do better around the box, and not to win the match
"That's the frustration – when somebody is better than you you shake their hands and you have to do something, you have to believe yourself you have to be critical of yourself. But when it’s happening the way it happened – apart from 25 minutes against Palace, and some period against Brighton in the first half – it’s very difficult to explain, and accept."
Arsenal recorded 23 shots at St Mary's, per official Premier League stats, but couldn't find a way through. It was a similar story against Brighton the previous week, with Arteta's side registering 20 shots to the Seagulls' eight but losing 2-1 at home.
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Despite watching his team come up empty, Arteta suggested his team was doing a lot of the right things. However, they have lacked that extra ingredient to turn defeats into victories.
"This is very difficult to predict, because to create more – I can’t remember a game where Arsenal has played with this team, where they have created and dominated in a game more and better," he said. "But the result is what at the end we need to be where we have to be, and if we are not able to do that we aren’t not going to be there – it’s as simple as that.
"Because you don’t have enough quality to be there, because we have to win football matches and we have to score more goals, and that’s a problem we have at the moment." Arsenal will return to action on Wednesday with an away game against Chelsea, before hosting Manchester United on April 23, and the two upcoming games could end up defining their season.
