Mikel Arteta claims Arsenal 'nowhere near levels we have to hit' after West Ham loss - 'Very, very angry'

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Arsenal were dealt a blow in the Premier League title race after falling to a 1-0 defeat against West Ham at the Emirates, with Jarrod Bowen scoring the decisive goal. A depleted Arsenal attack could not find a way back into the contest, and Mikel Arteta reflected on a match that left him "very, very angry". The Gunners boss called on his team to perform at a higher standard.

Arteta ‘very disappointed’ as Arsenal slip to defeat against West Ham

Video credit: SNTV

Mikel Arteta admitted Arsenal's Premier League defeat to West Ham on Saturday left him "very, very angry".

Jarrod Bowen scored the game's only goal on the stroke of half-time, with The Gunners - who were reduced to 10 players when Myles Lewis-Skelly was sent off after 73 minutes - unable to find a way past their London rivals.

And Arteta stressed that the performance was "nowhere near" the required standard to challenge Liverpool for the Premier League title.

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"Very disappointed, obviously very angry as well," the Arsenal boss said in his post-match press conference. "You have to congratulate West Ham for the victory and the way they played, but I think a lot from our side we never got right, and it didn't allow us to get enough momentum in terms of playing with positive actions that could deliver into situations of threat.

"Even though the ball that we had and 20 shots, I never thought we were at the standards and the level that we needed, first of all to have more threat and then not to allow them to run. We lost a lot of balls and allowed West Ham to run in very dangerous situations.

"We have to be [angry], I hope very much, because we didn't hit the levels today and I am very much responsible for that, so I am very, very angry."

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Arsenal are without several attacking players, including Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus, with both expected to miss the remainder of the season, and Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli.

But Arteta insisted his lack of options in attack was not the reason for defeat to West Ham.

"I refuse that completely," he said. "I'm talking about the standards and the team that we played today, me included. That was nowhere near the levels we have to hit to have the opportunity to win a Premier League. Today, no. We were very consistent, yes, but football is about what you do today, and today, nowhere near.

"We have to look in the mirror, what we can do better. The will and the desire and the way we run and way we want it, zero question about that. But that is not enough - you have to deliver and it has to be with a lot of quality to break a really good team down, to win many more duels than we have done. Today we haven't done that.

"We have to play much better, it's my responsibility. We have to play with more personality, much more quality, much more interactions. That's on me."

Arsenal next face Nottingham Forest at the City Ground on Wednesday - live on TNT Sports and discovery+ - and Arteta outlined what is needed of his team in the coming days.

"First of all: suffer for 24, 48 hours and feel the pain and make sure that we come back on Monday with that bite and that anger, determined for Wednesday," he said.

The gap to Premier League leaders Liverpool remains eight points following Arsenal's slip up, with Arne Slot's side in action against Manchester City on Sunday.

"It's not in our hands," Arteta said when asked about the title race. "I am really, really annoyed for the things that were in our hands and we didn't do as well as we possibly could, and that's the performance and result today."

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