I must admit that I am with the Arsenal captain on this one, to a certain extent at least, as I feel that the Gunners were much better against Manchester United on Saturday. We were certainly better than the visitors who hardly deserved a point, never mind all three.

But Arsenal mistakes at both ends of the pitch were punished hard and the club is now in something of a crisis, which is why Arteta felt the need to point out the positives from the game, as shown in an Arsenal.com report. The Spanish midfielder was certainly as good in the centre of the pitch as I have seen him for some time, as he dominated midfield and controlled the pace of the game and helped Arsenal to push United further and further back into their half.

Arteta is not taking the credit, though, as he feels the whole team were really on it, both in the way we attacked but also the way we pressed United hard and as a unit. He really believes that the Gunners deserved to win the game and that the result is completely unfair on the players, fans and Arsene Wenger.

The Arsenal captain said, “I am shocked we did not win this game, I cannot believe it still.

“I think we played our best game of the season, in terms of what we demand from ourselves with the quality of our attack, how early we won the ball back, how consistent we were throughout the game, the number of chances we created, and all that considering the opposition we were playing against.

“I can’t believe it and think it is a shame, not fair for the players and the fans. It is very frustrating.

“We were controlling the game and hammering them. Afterwards you have to take more risks, to chase the game. I feel so sorry for the lads and for the fans as well, because they were terrific and we don’t deserve it.

“When you are inside the box, and you cannot manage to score in that many situations, you cannot expect to win a football game. On another day, we would have won the game very comfortably.

“We cannot forget [what we have done well] because it creates a lack of belief and confidence if you take a lot of negatives. Everybody is disappointed, but you can take many many positives from our performance. I was very proud with what we have done and I am shocked.”

These things do happen in football but they have been happening too often to Arsenal this season and the manager and players have to find a way to stop it. Do you think it was just one of those days and that Arsenal will usually win a game with that sort of performance? Or is there a more tangible problem?

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