Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has reacted to his side's 2-1 defeat away to Southampton in the FA Cup.
Looking to bounce back from a Carabao Cup defeat before the international break, the Gunners crashed out of another domestic cup competition at St. Mary's to a Shea Charles winner, and now need to regroup ahead of a Champions League quarter-final this week.
Speaking in his press conference after the game, Arteta spoke of Arsenal's failure to break the Saints down and how his side will look to recover from another bitter blow.
Everything Mikel Arteta said after Arsenal's 2-1 loss to Southampton
On the disappointment of losing…
Yeah, very disappointed in the manner that we lost the opportunity to get back to Wembley. I think the game had many, many, many periods of dominance from our side when we generated chances and situations. We didn't capitalize on that enough, and then, yeah, when you defend in and around the box and directly in the manner that we did it today, you're going to put yourself in a really difficult position. And they did decapitalize on that, and that's the reason why we're out.
On whether he was disappointed with the work-rate…
No, not the work. I never considered that as a problem with this team at all.
On the lack of chances being created…
I love my players. When what they've done for nine months… what am I going to do now? Criticise them because we lost a game here in the manner that they tried and the way they are putting the bodies through everything? Some of them probably didn't even have to be here today. I'm not going to do it at all. I'm going to defend them more than ever.
If someone has to take responsibility, that's me. We have the most beautiful period of the season ahead of us. And now is a moment in the season – you always have moments, normally two or three – and this is the first moment that we have with a certain level of difficulty. We're going to say difficulty when we're going to play the Champions League quarterfinals and the run-in for the league? If it is a difficult period, I believe that there are many other ones that are much more difficult. So stand up and make yourself comfortable at the level that we've been doing all season.
On individual errors…
They are part of football and, unfortunately, when you make them, you hope that the opponent is not going to capitalize. Today they have done. And Gabriel came off... I don't know. I think he felt something. I don't know exactly what it is. We're going to have to assess him, but obviously when a player is asking to be substituted, it's not good news.
On how to stop the rot…
Giving the players clarity, even more conviction now, trusting our players, believing in what we are doing, and continuing to do that with little tweaks that every game demands. But especially maintaining the spirit, the attitude, and the energy at the highest possible level because that's critical to perform at the level that we need to win matches. Thank you.
On Southampton's performance…
I congratulate them. I think they're a really good... it's not a coincidence the run that they are in. And as I said, they've been far more efficient than us when they mattered the most, and that's why they're in Wembley. So, wish them all the best.
On teams attacking Arsenal more…
Well, I don't know. I think we have played against any kind of behaviors from the opponent. We played 51 games, so imagine the amount of games that we played and win in different ways. I think it wasn't about that. Without taking any credit from Southampton, it was very related to some things that, in my opinion, we have to do much better.
On whether chasing a Quadruple affected this team…
No, and I don't want to put any excuses about the players that are missing or the players that are here with issues. It's not the case, I think. Let's look at ourselves in the mirror, accept the situation, rebel against it, and go again to Portugal with, again, freshness, with clarity, and looking forward to it.
On whether fewer competitions to compete in is a blessing in disguise…
I don't know. We are out. So now, while we are out, we have still that pain. But when that pain goes, we have to use the time that we're going to have in the best possible manner to maximize every resource that we have to be better. That's it.
On how to bounce back…
How do you stop that? In the same manner that you have to stop when you win, win, win, win, win, win like we've been doing—that you don't think that you are better than what you are because you are winning. So very clear, we talked about that many, many times. You have to be very stable in this competition, in any competition that you play, and especially with the amount of games that we played, and we'll continue to do that.
