VAR AND REFEREE ERROR: Every word Mikel Arteta said on Arsenal defeat, Bournemouth VAR call, Timber fitness and PSG

Every word from Mikel Arteta’s post-match Arsenal press conference after defeat to Bournemouth in the

Mikel Arteta faced the media follow Arsenal’s defeat to Bournemouth

Mikel Arteta faced the media follow Arsenal’s defeat to Bournemouth

Mikel Arteta was understandably not in a good mood following Arsenal’s defeat to Bournemouth in the Premier League. It could not have been a worse preparation ahead of the trip to Paris with the only redeeming factor was no one was injured on the day.

Declan Rice and William Saliba stood out among the rest who were rather lacking in urgency and verve. Controversy covered the winning goal with replays showing the ball coming off Evanilson’s arm before going in the net and he gave his thoughts on how this might or might not affect the game with PSG.

Here is every word from Arteta’s post-match press conference:

I hesitate to ask about VAR and the goal again, what’s your view of the winning goal?

I’ve just seen a few images and it looked very different to the decision, but they made that decision.

But overall, how do you feel about your team’s performance? It felt a little bit like the Brentford game in that you couldn’t get that two goals ahead and then you paid for it.

We started and we needed a more difficult one to score the goal. After that we had four or five very open situations to score the second one. We didn’t kill it and after that, on top of that, you defend the box really poorly, the way we’ve done it in the two set pieces that we have conceded again. So they’re going to punish you a team like Bournemouth, they’re going to punish you. After that the game becomes rushed, very chaotic. That’s why they want big spaces, they have more legs than us, especially we said some players that were struggling in the final minutes and we weren’t able to get the result that we wanted, so we’re very disappointed.

I think less than 21 points dropped from winning positions this season. Does that come down to almost losing that momentum, as you mentioned, or just how does that happen so often in one single season?

I think every game probably would have a different answer to that. Certainly, what happened today is that you defend the way we’ve done. Very few set pieces but very poorly. In the league you’re going to get punished, it doesn’t matter if you’re ahead or behind in the scoreline.

And that momentum that came from Bournemouth in the second half, how do you make sure that doesn’t creep into the PSG game?

Well, we certainly wanted to create a really good vibe, a positive result would really help us to build what we wanted towards Wednesday. So, what we have created now is a lot of rage, anger, frustration and a bad feeling in the tummy. So, make sure that we use that for Wednesday to have a massive performance in Paris, win the game and be in the final.

Did you notice that Luis Enrique rested his whole team today, all apart from Joao Neves? That’s a huge advantage for him I guess that you expected.

Well I don’t know, they won the league so they have the luxury to do that. We haven’t because we still have a lot to do in the Premier League. But we have four days and I’m sure we’ll be fully recovered and our best to play the game.

Do you still think you have a lot to do in the Premier League? I just wonder if you may be, worst case, looking over your shoulder a little bit for top five now?

Well we have a lot to do, yes, because mathematically we are not qualified, we haven’t had the right to finish second yet so we still have a lot to do.

Is there any sense that as the gap to Liverpool opened and it looked less like the title was attainable, have you noticed any difference in the domestic performances where the motivation perhaps in the Champions League where that trophy is there to chase? Do you notice any differences in the league?

We try not to, I think that’s something very, very individual. The way we have prepared the game and today we talked about a lot of things that we had to do against a very good opposition that were very necessary to win the game. We certainly missed the most important one which is defending the box because we did it poorly three times, very poorly. One in the first half and two in the second half and it cost us the points, that’s the reality.

And pre-match we talked a little bit about the rules and how perhaps they have changed across the season. We saw earlier in the season Havertz, the ball slightly glanced his arm as it went in, I think against Aston Villa and it was ruled out. This game, it looks from the replays like the ball does strike Evanilson’s arm and yet it’s given. Is that kind of what you were alluding to before the game?

I wasn’t because that happened today but I prefer not to comment on that.

Because you’ve done so well in the Champions League, is the recent struggle results in the league potentially impacted by the focus in the Champions League? Have you maybe took an eye off the ball in the Premier League anyway, do you think?

Again, our preparation has been exactly the same, not even more. I’m trying to put more emphasis into it. The margins are very small. It’s true that maybe we lacked, I don’t know, maybe a little bit of freshness and the way they have to repeat today, they have to play some players that probably they were in the best condition to play because we don’t have all those players. But that’s it, that’s the context that we have.

It must be quite frustrating though, I know you’ve still got points gap and you should hopefully in your position finish second but with the team chasing you now, it must be quite a bit of frustration to again…

Yeah, every time you don’t win a game, especially when you lose, you are very frustrated and as I said before, that rage, that frustration, that anger and that bad feeling that we have in the tummy, make sure that we use it to have a big performance on Wednesday and be in the final.

Mikel, you’ve been praised a lot this season for scoring from set pieces but obviously conceding two tonight. I think you’ve conceded 12 league goals from set pieces this season which is the third worst. Is that an issue that you need to sit down with the team and address or do you think it’s just bad luck?

It’s not only what you score, it’s the difference in gap between the ones that you score and the ones that you conceded and we have conceded a lot, especially recently, which are costing us a lot of points, that’s clear and that’s everybody’s responsibility. But as well today to the opposition, today they’ve done it really well. If somebody is able to throw the ball in the middle of the goal to a guy that is taller than anybody else and he hits the ball in the back of the net, we really want to do better but it’s difficult.

In the first half, towards the end of the first half, I noticed you seemed to be getting really frustrated with the team’s sloppiness at the back. Is that a concern as well going to PSG because we know how good their front three is but at times your team seems to be losing the ball in quite silly spaces?

Today, in many situations we are giving balls away that is nowhere near the standard that we’re quite certain of.

In terms of fitness-wise, are you confident that Jurrien will be OK for Wednesday?

No. Confident? At the moment, no, because he wasn’t able to play here and we played him for four days.

What was the issue with him?

I cannot tell you.

Can I just ask with Martin, that was a bit towards the end when he sort of kicked the ground when he was going for a shot, is he OK?

I haven’t had a chance yet to speak to the doctor giving me an update on that so I don’t know.