Arsenal should get up or there might be nothing to have a good time this season | EUROtoday

Mikel Arteta took full accountability for Arsenal’s shock FA Cup quarter-final defeat by the hands of Championship facet Southampton as he refused to criticise his gamers for his or her meek efficiency.

The Arsenal supervisor has overseen back-to-back defeats for the primary time this season, with this dismal 2-1 loss coming after the Carabao Cup closing defeat by Manchester City.

Those losses have destroyed Arsenal’s dream of successful an unprecedented quadruple and considerably raised the stress on the Premier League leaders forward of the defining weeks of the marketing campaign.

Arteta mentioned “now is the moment” for his staff to face up, as they continue to be in robust positions in each the Premier League and Champions League.

“I love my players,”  the Arsenal supervisor mentioned. “What they have done for nine months, I am not going to criticise them because we lost a game here. The way they are putting their bodies through everything, some of them probably didn’t even have to be here today.

“I’m not going to do that [blame the players]. I’m going to defend them more than ever. Someone has to take responsibility. That’s me and we have the most beautiful period of the season ahead of us. And now is the moment. In the season, you always have moments [of difficulty]. Normally two or three. This is the first moment that we have.

“In the season you have to go through periods. Some of them are difficult for whatever reason. Now we have two very disappointing results and we have to pick ourselves up. Now we have to show what we are made of and the way to do that is on the pitch.”

Arsenal had been undone by glorious finishes by Southampton’s Ross Stewart and Shea Charles, because the Championship facet deservedly struck a winner after Viktor Gyokeres had scored a second-half equaliser.

Arsenal’s night time was made worse by an obvious damage to key centre-back Gabriel Magalhães, who limped off within the second half. The Brazilian had withdrawn from worldwide obligation with a knee drawback and gave the impression to be clutching his knee as he was substituted right here.

“I don’t know exactly what it is,” Arteta mentioned. “We’re going to have to assess him. But obviously when a player asks him to be substituted, it’s not good news.”

Léo Scienza, the Southampton winger, mentioned: “Amazing. There are not any phrases to explain how a lot we fought at the moment. It was not luck, we fought so laborious and we deserved it. We performed good, very mature.