Mikel Arteta defended his decision to stick with Rob Holding after Arsenal's 4-1 defeat to Manchester City on Wednesday night.
Holding was brought into Arsenal's defence a month ago after William Saliba suffered a back injury, which could rule him out for the rest of the season. The Gunners have struggled since then, conceding 13 goals in six games and failing to keep a clean sheet.
There were calls for Holding to be dropped for Wednesday night's game, but Arteta resisted them. The Englishman was subsequently bullied by Erling Haaland, who scored his 33rd Premier League goal of the season and assisted Kevin De Bruyne's brace.
Arteta believes he made the right decision by sticking by Holding, as he wanted to reward the defender's loyalty. The Bolton academy graduate, 27, is into his seventh season with the Gunners, which makes him one of the club's longest serving players.
Arteta made just one change from the team that drew 3-3 with bottom club Southampton last Friday, as Granit Xhaka returned from illness. The Arsenal boss told reporters: "We wanted to tweak a few things but they were able to execute and scored an early goal.
"You have to understand where we’re coming from, we have to be loyal to what has brought us all this way. We’ve done it in the past in different ways and that doesn’t guarantee you anything. It’s time to look in the mirror at what we could have done better - I’m the first one - and go into the next game."
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Arsenal are still two points clear of City at the top of the Premier League, but their title hopes now look slim. City have two games in hand on the leaders and have won 11 consecutive domestic games. They are now favourites to complete a famous treble.
City will become just the second team in history to win the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League in the same season if they seize this golden opportunity. Perhaps the biggest hurdle will be beating Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final.
If Pep Guardiola's side do that, they will face Inter Milan or AC Milan in the final in Istanbul. They would be favourites to win that tie, just as they are in the FA Cup final. City take on local rivals Manchester United at Wembley on June 3.
In regards to Arsenal, they are now tipped to finish the season without silverware. Arteta added: "[Before the game] I saw the team really at it, and really confident that they were going to do something. But the way we started, we were on the back foot straight away and after that, we struggled to cope.
"We did much better in the second half in many periods but at that point, it’s too late.
"There were certain moments when we had the possibility [to impose ourselves], but we kept giving the ball away very easily and couldn’t build any momentum. That’s the thing, that wasn’t us and we have to look in the mirror and move on."
