Mikel Arteta believes Arsenal should have won against Fulham.
Throwing away a vital lead against 10 men once again raises questions about Arsenal’s leadership on the pitch. Just five days after the euphoria of holding out with a player less to win with a player fewer against Crystal Palace, Mikel Arteta’s self-affirmed title-challengers allowed Joao Palhinha to steal in unmarked to score from a late corner and rob Arsenal of their first two points of the season.
By that stage the club captain Martin Odegaard – usually the man to see the team through in such situations – had been replaced. But Gabriel Martinelli backed him to continue to wear the armband, and also issued his verdict on the new system, as well as Kai Havertz’ presence going forward.
“He has a lot of qualities as captain,” the winger insisted. “He always tries to help people off the pitch and on the pitch everyone can see his qualities.
“You guys may not see it but he is very vocal. He is our captain and we trust him. Not just on the pitch but off the pitch as well. After the game he said just to keep our heads up and not give up. Of course we are disappointed but we have to keep going.”
Arsenal shot themselves in the foot for the first time within the opening minute. Bukayo Saka’s loose back pass was pounced on by Pereira and Aaron Ramsdale lost his bearings as he back-tracked fiercely, allowing the Fulham midfielder to pass the ball into the empty net.
Inevitably there was a response from Arsenal but with Leandro Trossard proving the falsest of false nines it was a rather blunted one. The introduction of Eddie Nketiah at the break mixed things up and Arsenal thought they had turned things around completely in the space of 14 second-half minutes soon after the influential introduction of Fabio Vieira.
First Kenny Tete bundled into the Portuguese star to concede a clear but avoidable penalty which Saka dispatched. Then moments later it was his pass which set up Nketiah to add a second – although manager Marco Silva was furious that Calvin Bassey, who was keeping the striker onside, had been left in a heap on the floor by an earlier challenge.
His mood did not improve when the same player was then shown a second yellow card, although the late set-piece rescue act returned some semblance of a smile to his face.
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Arsenal now need to gather themselves again for the visit of Manchester United on Sunday – likely to be a far stiffer test of the new system and a new set of expectations at the Emirates.
“That’s the Premier League,” Martinelli added. “Every single game is hard and we need to be prepared for that. We need to refocus for the next win and try to win.
“The system feels good for us, we try to do our best and adapt to it. It’s not a new system but sometimes with a different player, we just need a bit of time to get used to it. We need to adapt. I think it’s going to be easy for us, we just need a bit of time to get used to it.”
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