Mikel Arteta has said he is disappointed Arsenal failed to heed his warning about the task they faced at West Ham United after losing 3-1 at London Stadium on Wednesday to exit the EFL Cup and now his side is “feeling the pain.”
The Gunners were knocked out at the fourth-round stage as an own goal from Ben White and second-half strikes from Mohammed Kudus and Jarrod Bowen earned the home side a comfortable victory.
– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)
Martin Odegaard’s stoppage-time effort in response did little to mask a substandard performance from the visitors and Arteta said: “I’m really disappointed and I am responsible for that. It wasn’t good enough. We didn’t compete good enough. I tried to warn them [the players] for 48 hours what was coming and how important it was going to be.
“Overall we were nowhere near the level we needed to show. This is football and every game is different. What happened a few days ago [beating Sheffield United 5-0] is in the bin and in the past.
“We didn’t threaten enough. I wanted to see much more from my team. There is a lot to improve.”
Arsenal face a difficult Premier League trip to Newcastle United, who beat Manchester United 3-0 on Wednesday at Old Trafford, this weekend and Arteta added: “The thing we have to take from the game today is how are we going to use this to beat Newcastle on Saturday. Feeling the pain. That’s what we have to do now.”
