Retour
Mikel Arteta addressed the media after Arsenal were dumped out of the Carabao Cup on penalties at League Two outfit Fleetwood Town.
The Spaniard pulled no punches on the manner of the defeat, though he refused to criticise his players despite indicating that Max Dowman ignored his pre-match message, centred around Fleetwood's attempts to rough him up.
Here is every word Arteta said following a thrilling night at Highbury Stadium.
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It was a difficult evening, Mikel. What surprised you? Did the result surprise you? Did the performance surprise you? "First of all, congratulations to Fleetwood because they are through. In the manner that they've done it, the atmosphere they've created, I have nothing to fault the players for in terms of their attitude, application, the intensity that they put in throughout the game. After the goal that we conceded, they did it throughout the game, they did it with 11 players, with 10, so there is nothing there. But, when you are that superior, you give nothing to the opponent apart from the first action that we defended so poorly and we conceded the goal.
"And you generate so many situations, actions, volume of shots and chances in the opposition box. You have to score three, four or five and then you capitalise on that and you see the difference in the game. If you don't, then there are no margins and that's the reality. And then you have to wait and get through the round on penalties and we didn't do that. So, the probability is always there. It was really low, the way the game was panning out, but it's football and even with that really low probability, you can be out of the cup and we are." Have you spoken to Max and what did you make of the incident?
"No, I haven't seen. With the camera, you can't really see what happens. The decision was made by the referee and that's it. And even with 10 men, we have three big chances to score the second goal." Has he apologised? Has he sent an address to anyone? "I don't know, I didn't speak to him."
Max Dowman saw red for kicking out before Arsenal lost on penalties(Image: (Carl Recine/Getty Images))
Does Max need to learn from this in the sense that he was targeted? "When we prepared the context of the match, we were very clear on the things to expect. The things that emotionally we have to dominate and it was very clear. Could you say what Max and you said when he went down the tunnel? "Yes, something that we discussed before the game." Is this part of the magic of English football, nights like this? "Well, it is and that's why football is so entertaining, especially in this competition in these countries and things like that. Yes, and the belief and the conviction that people have is because there is a history related to this. Unfortunately, we don't want to go through this. We are extremely sad, but at the same time, we need to congratulate the opponent. Players missing at home? Injured? Any regret if you rested? "Calafiori was out, Noni was out with an ankle and Declan was finished with a problem the other day. That's why I had to substitute him." Did you speak to Max out being fouled? "No, I haven't spoken to him about it."