Mikel Arteta admits he is worried by Arsenal’s ‘two faces’ shown in thrilling 3-3 comeback draw with West Ham… as Alexandre Lacazette says team ‘didn’t respect’ manager’s plans
- Mikel Arteta was troubled by Arsenal’s start in their 3-3 draw with West Ham
- The Gunners came back from three goals down after starting in terrible fashion
- The Arsenal manager says he is worried by his side’s inconsistent nature
- Alexandre Lacazette scored the equaliser but admitted Gunners must improve
Mikel Arteta admitted he is concerned about Arsenal‘s wild inconsistency as they rallied from three goals down to salvage a 3-3 draw against West Ham.
The Gunners produced a dreadful first 35 minutes as Jesse Lingard, Jarrod Bowen, and Tomas Soucek all got themselves on the scoresheet, with the hosts taking full advantage of Arsenal’s lethargic backline.
But a Soucek own goal in the first half gave the visitors a glimmer of hope, before Craig Dawson smashed the ball into his own net and Alexandre Lacazette headed home to earn Arsenal a point.
Mikel Arteta admitted Arsenal’s ‘two faces’ worry him after a chaotic 3-3 draw with West Ham
The Arsenal boss said their start was unacceptable as they went 3-0 down inside 35 minutes
But the Gunners’ boss was less than pleased that his side put themselves in such a difficult position in the first place.
‘We get really close to winning and we deserved to win at the end, but the first part really worries me,’ Arteta said.
‘I’m very disappointed because I cannot accept my team playing the way we did for certain periods in the first half. What I expect is for the team to play to the level we showed afterwards – we should have scored six or seven.
‘We have two faces. The first face is about giving goals to the opponent and not doing what we have to do and it is not good enough.
But Arteta took positives from the comeback and believes his side deserved all three points
‘The first goal can happen – there are good combinations and players in the box and it can happen but the second goal was unacceptable and the third goal was unacceptable. Then we give them one more and they hit the post.
‘It is too much, the margins, then you have to score six every game.
‘But for the rest – the attitude and desire, the togetherness we showed – when it is 3-0 it is difficult to do what we have to do, but I have no doubts because every day I see the energy.’
Lacazette led the Arsenal frontline well as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang returned to the wing, and it was his shot that deflected off Soucek for the Arsenal opener.
Alexandre Lacazette was involved in two of the Arsenal goals including netting the equaliser
And while the Frenchman was disappointed not to be awarded the first goal, he was full of praise for Calum Chambers at right back, who crossed the ball for Lacazette’s deflected effort before also sending in the cross that Craig Dawson diverted into his own net.
‘I think the first goal is mine!’ Lacazette joked. ‘My feeling is mixed. Proud of my team’s comeback, disappointed with the first half.
‘We didn’t respect the gameplan from the coach. This is not what we wanted – we had the pressure because we knew it was a big game.
‘Calum Chambers deserves a lot of credit. He came back from a big injury, he’s worked a lot in training, individually. He’s shown he deserves to play for Arsenal and I’m really happy for him.
‘It’s really complicated when we do these kind of first halves, so we need to work a lot before the end of the season.’
Lacazette hailed Calum Chambers’ performance after the Englishman impressed at right back
