Arteta Blames Arsenal Squad and Injury Woes for Europa League Exit

Mikel Arteta has attributed Arsenal’s Europa League exit to a combination of player shortcomings and injury setbacks.

As a result, the team must now shift their attention entirely to their pursuit of a league championship, as their European aspirations have been dashed by Sporting Lisbon’s victory on Thursday night.

Following Arsenal’s Europa League exit on Thursday, manager Mikel Arteta expressed disappointment with his team’s lack of ball security, which he believes contributed to their defeat.

Although Granit Xhaka had given the Gunners an early lead, they were ultimately unable to maintain their advantage. Pedro Goncalves’ incredible goal from the halfway line leveled the score, and neither team was able to break the deadlock during the remainder of the match. Sporting eventually clinched victory in the penalty shootout, with Gabriel Martinelli missing a crucial spot-kick. Arteta was highly critical of his team’s overall performance throughout the game and struggled to come to terms with their elimination.

Speaking to BT Sport, the Spaniard said: ” [It’s a] huge blow, obviously. There were moments especially in the first 75 minutes where we weren’t at our level. We gave every single ball away.

“We didn’t have the capacity to dominate the game and take the game where we wanted. It’s true in the last 15 minutes, we had the chances and in extra-time, we had the chances to win it. When it goes down to the penalties, it’s a lot of uncertainty and we lost it.”

Arteta’s assessment grew even more furious as he admitted that his side did not compete enough with their visitors. He added: “I think it was a very different game [to the first leg].

“Especially that we didn’t win enough duels when we had them in certain spaces. They are really good at attacking those boxes and second line runs and we didn’t put the ball under pressure well enough to do that.

“Every time we regained the ball in those areas, we gave it away. We didn’t have the ball consistently and that created a really open transitional game that we didn’t want to play.”

"We weren't at our level." 😤

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta gives his verdict on his side's defeat on penalties to Sporting.#UEL pic.twitter.com/gXaTk5JV0R
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) March 16, 2023

Despite his frustration with the performances of some of his key players, Mikel Arteta acknowledged that injuries also played a role in Arsenal’s Europa League exit. Takehiro Tomiyasu, the Japanese international, was forced off the pitch after just ten minutes due to a challenge he made. William Saliba also had to be substituted after apparently injuring his back. This will be a significant loss for the team since Saliba has been a regular starter in the Premier League this season.

“That happened,” Arteta said. “It happened with Tomi [Tomiyasu] and Saliba and then we are really restricted to do the changes and we only have one window to do them and only one sub left. We have to accomodate that.

“I think the team got better and better with the changes, especially the last 15 minutes of the full-time and then we had big chances to finish it off but we didn’t do it.”