‘A Really Sad Day’: Arteta Reacts To Arsenal’s Shock Fleetwood Defeat

Mikel Arteta has defended his Arsenal players after their shock Carabao Cup exit to Fleetwood Town, insisting that a lack of effort or determination was not responsible for their defeat.

Arsenal were eliminated by the League Two side on penalties after a 1-1 draw, with the Gunners failing to convert their dominance into a decisive advantage before losing the shootout.

‘First of all, congratulations to Fleetwood for going through to the next round in the manner they’ve done it,’ Arteta told Sky Sports.

‘It’s a really sad day for us. I cannot fault at all the attitude of the players. I haven’t seen anybody not doing what is required at this level, but we had so much of the ball, had so many chances, so many shots, and if you want the margins to be bigger than going to penalties, you have to capitalise on that.

‘We didn’t, and football is about that.’

The Arsenal manager acknowledged that cup competitions can produce unexpected results, particularly when underdogs seize the initiative and build momentum.

‘Yes, especially when they go ahead and create that momentum,’ he said.

‘We gave them almost nothing in the whole game and we created so many chances, but we didn’t capitalise on that. Then the margins become so small. That is football, and that’s the beauty of this competition and especially in this country.’

Arteta stressed that the defeat was not down to a lack of application, but admitted Arsenal had fallen short in other important areas.

‘It wasn’t to do with attitude, otherwise I would be here fuming. I’m sad, we’re all sad,’ he said.

‘We have a responsibility to represent this badge in the best possible way. It was nothing to do with effort, application or determination to go and win it, but we lacked other things to create much bigger margins.

‘With what we produced, it should have showed in the scoreline.’