Mikel Arteta points the blame as Arsenal crash out of Carabao Cup to West Ham
Mikel Arteta was keen to shoulder the blame after Arsenal were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by West Ham on Wednesday night.
The Gunners were beaten 3-1 by David Moyes ’ side to crash out of the competition in the fourth round. Ben White headed Jarrod Bowen ’s corner into his own net to give West Ham the lead before Mohammed Kudus curled into the bottom corner for 2-0 after the break.
Bowen smashed past Aaron Ramsdale from the edge of the box to make the game safe, with substitute Martin Odegaard then grabbing a late consolation with a low finish. Arteta made six changes to the side which smashed Sheffield United 5-0 in the Premier League on Saturday and wanted to direct the criticism at himself in his post-match media duties.
“I'm very disappointed,” he told Sky Sports. "I'm responsible for that. No excuse, because it wasn’t good enough, we didn’t compete well enough. I tried to warn them for 48 hours what was coming and how important it was and how we have to compete in this game before earning the right to play. And we didn’t do that. You can discuss what happens for the first goal and the impact of that but overall we were nowhere near the level that we have to show.”
While he felt the first goal would not have stood had VAR been in use, he focused on the lacklustre performance of his side. He added: “We should have done many things much better – urgency, speed on the ball, the simple things that we gave away, the defence didn’t allow us to be set in the final third for long periods, so there’s lots to improve.”
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Ramsdale was given a chance in goal ahead of David Raya, while Reiss Nelson, Fabio Vieira, Jakub Kiwior and Leandro Trossard were all given starts. They struggled to assert themselves on West Ham, leaving Arteta disappointed.
Mikel Arteta took the blame for the loss at West Ham (Marc Atkins/Getty Images)HAVE YOUR SAY! What did you make of Arsenal's performance? Comment below.
“We're out of the cup, we wanted to play a very different game and compete,” he said. “The game took a direction because of the first goal but we have to see much more from the team and earn the right to win. I'm disappointed with myself. I wanted to play in a different way and we weren't able to do that. Every time we lose the pain is there.”
Arsenal will look to get back on track when they face Newcastle in the Premier League this weekend. The Magpies will be in a buoyant mood after thrashing Manchester United 3-0 at Old Trafford despite making eight changes to their line-up.
“We have to use this pain and this defeat to prepare the best way for Newcastle on Saturday,” Arteta added. “We have to use this pain for Saturday, that is for sure. We need to use it in the best way possible to go to Newcastle and win. What it shows you is that what happened three days ago does not count for today.”
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