Premier League outfit Arsenal were condemned to their first loss in six months as they went down 2-0 to Bournemouth on Saturday at the Vitality Stadium after defence William Saliba was given the marching orders in the first period of the game.
Champions Manchester City and title contenders Liverpool made the best of the Arsenal slip-up as they won their respective games against Wolves and Chelsea respectively to earn a lead over the Gunners.
Arteta, however, did not push the panic button and said that his side need to channel the agony of the defeat in their upcoming UEFA Champions League fixture.
“You have a defeat, that’s part of the game, it happens in very specific conditions as well,” he said.
“Let’s move on, take that pain we still have in the tummy and use it for tomorrow night.”
Arteta touched up on the complications that arrive in times of a red card and the burden it adds to the side’s situation with multiple players on the sidelines due to injuries and the heavily debated fixture congestion.
“It puts a bit of perspective into the situation. Obviously we want to win in any context. The reality is that we have made that context very difficult for ourselves,” the Gunners Gaffer said.
“It was very difficult already with the amount of players that we had out and the schedule and the games that we had to play but that’s the reality,” he added.
“For that game, we didn’t get away with it. We could have done and it could have been a very different narrative but the reality is we didn’t. Another context is that we have lost one game in six months. Now we have to win again,” the former midfielder continued.
Arteta also addressed the issue of red cards, after Saliba became the third Gunners’ player to be sent off in eight Premier League games this season, following dismissals for Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard.
Saliba’s sending-off also marked the third time this season that Arsenal have been reduced to play 10 men after Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard were also given the marching orders in earlier games in the campaign.
“Playing with 10 men, obviously that is an issue,” the Spaniard added.
“The truth is when you analyse the three very different actions and the outcome of them, the reasons are very different,” he said reflecting on the dismissals.
“Regardless of that, we cannot continue to play with 10 men, especially at this level,” the Arsenal boss added.
“We need to eradicate that, it’s clear. Why, the reason and how it doesn’t matter, we have to focus, it has to happen.”
Star forward Bukayo Saka missed out on the game against Bournemouth with an injury, and Arteta added that the English youngster’s fitness would be assessed ahead of their UEFA Champions League clash against Shakhtar.
Arteta also expressed his sympathies for the Ukrainian unit, who are forced to play their home games in Germany, citing the ongoing war in their country.
“The things they have to put in place to be able to continue to play football matches at this level and compete in the way they do, it’s remarkable,” the 42-year-old added.
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