Mikel Arteta took full responsibility for Arsenal’s shock FA Cup quarter-final defeat at the hands of Championship side Southampton as he refused to criticise his players for their meek performance.
The Arsenal manager has overseen back-to-back defeats for the first time this season, with this dismal 2-1 loss coming after the Carabao Cup final defeat by Manchester City.
Those losses have destroyed Arsenal’s dream of winning an unprecedented quadruple and significantly raised the pressure on the Premier League leaders ahead of the defining weeks of the campaign.
Arteta said “now is the moment” for his team to stand up, as they remain in strong positions in both the Premier League and Champions League.
“I love my players,” the Arsenal manager said. “What they have done for nine months, I am not going to criticise them because we lost a game here. The way they are putting their bodies through everything, some of them probably didn’t even have to be here today.
“I’m not going to do that [blame the players]. I’m going to defend them more than ever. Someone has to take responsibility. That’s me and we have the most beautiful period of the season ahead of us. And now is the moment. In the season, you always have moments [of difficulty]. Normally two or three. This is the first moment that we have.
“In the season you have to go through periods. Some of them are difficult for whatever reason. Now we have two very disappointing results and we have to pick ourselves up. Now we have to show what we are made of and the way to do that is on the pitch.”
Arsenal were undone by excellent finishes by Southampton’s Ross Stewart and Shea Charles, as the Championship side deservedly struck a winner after Viktor Gyokeres had scored a second-half equaliser.
Arsenal’s night was made worse by an apparent injury to key centre-back Gabriel Magalhães, who limped off in the second half. The Brazilian had withdrawn from international duty with a knee problem and seemed to be clutching his knee as he was substituted here.
“I don’t know exactly what it is,” Arteta said. “We’re going to have to assess him. But obviously when a player asks him to be substituted, it’s not good news.”
Léo Scienza, the Southampton winger, said: “Amazing. There are no words to describe how much we fought today. It was not luck, we fought so hard and we deserved it. We played good, very mature.