Arteta takes the blame for Leno mistake

Mikel Arteta takes the blame for Bernd Leno's blunder against Rapid Vienna in the Europa League

By Adam Le Roux

Mikel Arteta shouldered some of the responsibility for Rapid Vienna’s opening goal as Arsenal were forced to come from behind in their opening Europa League match of the season. 

Bernd Leno’s attempted pass was intercepted by Taxiarchis Fountas early in the second-half, leaving the Greek striker with the easiest of finishes to put the hosts ahead, as the Gunners had to do it the hard way in the Austrian capital. 

Quick-fire goals from David Luiz and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang managed to turn the game around to secure the victory, and get them off to the perfect start in Group B.

Despite the German goalkeeper’s blunder, Arteta is adamant that his philosophy of playing the ball out from the back won’t be changing anytime soon.

“We made it a little bit harder with some decisions we made and the goal we conceded, which if anything is obviously my fault because I demand that we do those things,” the Spaniard said.

“It is a part of our game model. We need to understand when we can do it and when we should kick the ball to the stand.

“He (Leno) has the courage to do it, we have been very successful at doing it as well with the amount of goals we have scored even in important games.

“They will understand better and better the type of balls that we have to play in those areas and in relation to where the pressure is coming and the type of distances you can manage from the opponent

“It is something we have to keep working on because if we want to play the way I want to, it is necessary that the goalkeeper is involved in our build-up play.”

Thursday night also saw fans get a proper sight of new signing Thomas Partey, as the Ghana international played the full 90 minutes in the Allianz Stadion, and looked to fit in perfectly with his new teammates. 

The 27-year-old kept a tight ship at the base of the midfield, and looked to exert himself on the game throughout, as he made his first start since his recent move from Atletico Madrid. 

The £45m man’s performance also pleased his new boss, who believes his new acquisition could play a big part in his plans in the upcoming campaign. 




"To be fair he looked really solid and really comfortable," Arteta said.

"I think he held the midfield by himself in the second half when we were a little more open and started to take more chances and attacking certain spaces with some players.

“Obviously we know that with the price that we paid for him and the profile that he has, he is going to have a lot of people looking at him in every single game.

“But it's about the structure we have as a team, the flow, the unity and the cohesion that we need in our team and he is one piece of that. Hopefully he is a big piece.”

Photo Credit: Getty Images

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