Mikel Arteta: The Dressing Room Was Quiet After The Game, I Like That

Mikel Arteta details sombre mood at Stamford Bridge…

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta described what was a sombre mood in the dressing room after we salvaged a 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge, which made the Spaniard happy.

The team was well below their level against a vibrant Chelsea side who were in a rich vain of form and while their goals came through fortuitous circumstances, the home side were on top.

We upped our level in the second half, gaining more control and territory of the game, though we never created clear chances while also looking susceptible to the odd error at the back.

In the end, Declan Rice took full advantage of Robert Sanchez’s error, lashing him from 36.6 yards to raise hopes of a comeback. A comeback that was complete six minutes later after Bukayo Saka’s inch-perfect cross found the dependable Leandro Trossard who tucked it in at the back post.

A draw at Stamford Bridge to keep our unbeaten run on track and go joint-top in the Premier League is normally a decent result, but Arteta said the players were down in the dressing room.

“When we don’t have those two things, then we’ve got an average team, we changed that and we started to lift the level after 20 or 25 minutes and especially in the second half, that’s a different game,” the boss said when asked to describe the positive from Saturday’s clash (via Arsenal.com).

“Whether it was the players that were here, the players that were on the bench, thinking: ‘how I’m going to change the game and help the team’, so that’s the part that I loved.

“What I really liked as well was going into the dressing room and the dressing room being quiet after drawing 2-2 against Chelsea and being 2-0 down, because I know that they want more, so those are the positives,” he added.

Having played four of the traditional ‘Big Six’ in our opening nine games including four London derbies and remaining unbeaten is a positive.

However, our level of performance has been rather shaky this season as we still look to establish a side that mirrors last season’s in terms of balance and cohesion.