Mikel Arteta: We Must Use Pain Of Cup Exit Against Newcastle

Mikel Arteta looking for an immediate response…

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has called on his squad to use the pain of Wednesday’s League Cup exit as fuel for our trip to Newcastle United this weekend, the boss told Sky Sports.

Arteta’s men produced one of the worst performances of his recent tenure in yet another premature domestic cup exit. Despite the manager’s warnings about complacency, the players clearly didn’t take heed.

The Spaniard stated in his pre-match press conference that looking down on the Carabao Cup would be “arrogant”, especially given the lack of serial winners in his squad.

With the schedule getting tighter as Arteta juggles three competitions, the manager made a handful of changes from last weekend’s thrashing of Sheffield United.

It didn’t have the desired effect with the team putting in a shoddy display with many fringe players doing very little to convince the manager that they deserve more minutes.

“I’m disappointed and I take responsibility. Our performance was not good enough, we didn’t give our all. I warned the players for two days about how important this match is.

“In general, we were far from the required level. Football is a game, every match is unique. What happened a few days ago is already in the past. We lacked activity in attack. I expected more from my team. There are a lot of things that need to be improved.

“After today’s match, we must understand how to use this defeat to beat Newcastle. We have to feel the pain,” Arteta added.

While the narrative surrounding this defeat will be focused on yet another cup exit, our squad isn’t currently able to handle such rotation and win in a London derby away from home.

We can make five or six changes and still win, but that would’ve required a fully-fit squad. Had the likes of Thomas Partey, Gabriel Jesus, Jurrien Timber and Emile Smith Rowe been on the pitch at the London Stadium, I suspect the result would’ve been different.