Arsenal beat Slavia Prague 2-1 on Wednesday night to make it 10 points from their first four Champions League games, but Mikel Arteta was far from satisfied.

Goals from Noni Madueke and Viktor Gyokeres had Arsenal cruising at the break. After half-time, though, Slavia came roaring back, pulled one back late on through Wiktor Nowak, and almost snatched an equaliser in stoppage time. Arteta, though, had seen it coming.

What Mikel Arteta told Arsenal at half-time

Speaking to TNT Sports after the game, Arteta said his side were “exceptional at times” in the first half, and that “the scoreline should have reflected three or four goals”.

But he knew Slavia weren’t finished, and he warned his players at the break. “At half-time I told them it’s a team with a huge spirit,” he said. “They will keep running, they will keep believing, they will become even more chaotic, and we didn’t control that at all.”

To be fair, that’s exactly what happened. Slavia had just one shot in the first half, but 17 after the break. Arsenal went the other way, from eight shots before half-time to only four after it.

“Right from the beginning of the second half we were on the back foot, very sloppy,” Arteta added. “We gave so many balls away, so many bad clearances. We didn’t keep the ball or the structure at all. And then you have to suffer, because the teams in the Champions League are really good. So a lot to learn.”

When asked why his side had lost control, Arteta, as ever, wasn’t giving everything away. “For different reasons. I mentioned a few of those, and a few of others I will keep them to myself.”

Mikel Arteta: ‘Our standard should be higher’

Arteta made six changes from the win at Anfield, but he stood by his decision. “We know the quality of the players that we have,” he said. “I would have done the same thing because those guys deserve to play.”

He also pointed to the demands of the schedule, which David Raya touched on too. “It’s 11 away games now, and we are in very early November. It’s the third away game that we played in the last seven days,” Arteta said. “So I understand that, but our standard should be higher.”

Arsenal are back at the Emirates on Saturday, when they host Hull in the Premier League.