“Obviously I am really concerned” - All the best quotes following Arsenal’s 2-1 home defeat against Wolves
“Obviously I am really concerned” - All the best quotes following Arsenal’s 2-1 home defeat against Wolves
Arsenal’s tough start to the Premier League season continued on Sunday, with a third successive home defeat leaving the Gunners 14th with just 13 points - their worst start to a campaign for 39 years.
Wolves were the latest side to get the better of Mikel Arteta’s charges at the Emirates, with the match being largely overshadowed by a nasty clash of heads between David Luiz and Raul Jimenez which left the latter requiring hospital treatment.
Hopes were high for the hosts ahead of kick-off after a 3-0 win at Molde on Thursday night had booked their spot in the Europa League last 32, but Arsenal were unable to replicate such ruthless form back in domestic competition on home soil.
Following the coming together of Luiz and Jimenez, Pedro Neto opened the scoring for the visitors with a neat close-range finish after Leander Dendoncker’s header had crashed onto the bar from Adama Traore’s looping cross.
Summer-signing Gabriel levelled terms on the half-hour mark - just three minutes later - with a thumping header of his own, providing the perfect response to going behind and seemingly shifting the match’s momentum in Arsenal's favour.
But Wolves were back in front before half-time through livewire Daniel Podence, the 25-year-old Portugal international cleverly flicking the ball up and finishing after Neto’s strike was parried by home stopper Bernd Leno.
Arsenal rarely threatened an equaliser in the second half and were duly handed their fifth league loss of the season by Nuno Espírito Santo’s men, a year to the day since Arteta’s predecessor Unai Emery was sacked as head coach.
There was an array of talking points after the game, so let’s look at some of the best quotes after the Gunners’ latest outing.
Luiz allowed to carry on
There was understandably huge concern over the welfare of Luiz and Jimenez following the sickening incident in the game’s early stages, with Wolves’ Mexican striker receiving ten minutes of treatment on the field before being taken to hospital.
Luiz was cleared to carry on after being put through all the necessary safety protocols, but blood continued to show through his bandage and he was subsequently withdrawn at the interval.
A selection of pundits and fans have criticised the decision to allow the Brazilian to continue after suffering such a deep cut that prevented him from heading the ball properly, but Arteta insisted that all of the correct procedures were carried out.
Arteta said: “David is OK. He has a nasty cut. He was conscious. They did a test for him, he was completely fine, but he was uncomfortable playing with that.
“First of all the doctor all the time has to check - there is a protocol - that he hasn’t lost any consciousness, which he didn’t.
“They have some tests they have to do before they put him back on the pitch, and then David was just concerned about the cut, nothing else. They will continue to do some checks in the next few hours but he was fine.
“We’re obviously really worried for Jimenez, because it looked really nasty. We would like to send him our best wishes, our love to him and his family as well. Hopefully it is not as bad as it looks.”
Poor run causing concern
There was plenty of optimism within the red half of North London ahead of the 2020/21 season after FA Cup and Community Shield success back in August.
But while there have been flashes of quality throughout the fresh campaign - particularly in the Europa League where the Gunners remain unbeaten - doubts about the team’s ability to challenge towards the Premier League top four have certainly settled in.
Indeed, a 14th place position sees them sat below the likes of Newcastle and newly-promoted Leeds - who held Arsenal to a 0-0 draw in their previous league match - while a total of 13 points leaves them the same distance from the relegation spots as from bitter rivals Tottenham at the top of the ranks.
With such woeful form - particularly at home where Wolves followed Aston Villa and Leicester in getting the better of Arteta’s men - the Spaniard admitted he is worried about recent results, but is confident the team can quickly turn it around.
“Obviously I am really concerned,” Arteta said. “I am responsible for that, but I must say the reaction the team had, the way we played second half, was what I expect from them, but at the end the desire and willingness to go and get a result was there.
“It was a really bad result, but in the first half they have two shots on target and score two goals. When we had the chances, we didn’t. The goals will come, we have to insist, and we have to keep pushing the players and believe in them.
“We had a great reaction in the second half, we went all for it, I think the team showed their desire, how much they wanted to win the game. We created the opportunities, the chances, and the goal didn’t arrive. I’m disappointed because I think we merited more from the game.”
Questions surround Arteta and Aubameyang
Now just under a year into his tenure as Arsenal boss, questions are starting to be asked about how capable Arteta is of guiding Arsenal back to former glories, despite his cup success last season.
A mutinous atmosphere surrounded the club when Emery was dismissed from the manager’s post 12 months ago, but with Arsenal having been six places ahead of where they are now fans are wondering what progress has been made.
Another area of concern surrounds the form of talismanic skipper Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who seems to have been a shadow of his former self since signing a bumper three-year contract back in September.
The Gabon international has only scored two goals this season and was anonymous for large parts of the Wolves match - touching the ball only eight times in the first half with three of those coming from kick-offs.
On his own future, Arteta said: “The day I decided to be a coach I knew that one day I will be sacked or leave the football club.
“In this profession, I know it will happen but I don’t know if it’s the day after I sign my contract, in a month’s time, a year’s time or six months’ time. I never worry about it.
“My only concern is to get the best out of the players and give the best possible service to the club.”
On Aubemeyang, Arteta added: “The main goalscorer of the club at the moment isn’t scoring goals, so my biggest concern is how to help him more to score goals because we need his goals.
“How important Auba has been for this club in the last two years and how the goal sheet has been shared among the squad tells you his importance. He needs to be scoring goals if we want to be successful.”
Photo Credit: Getty Images
