Mikel Arteta admits Arsenal squad are ‘really devastated’ and ‘can’t find a right answer’

Arsenal suffered a third Premier League defeat in as many games as Jan Bednarek scored the winner for Southampton at St Mary’s to leave the Gunners outside the top four

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Arteta: Southampton defeat has left players feeling ‘really depressed’

Mikel Arteta has admitted his Arsenal players are “really devastated” afterwards miss another opportunity to revive her urge Champions League Soccer.

The Spaniard previously admitted his squad had done so missed a “huge” chance to gain ground on their rivals Tottenham were beaten earlier on Saturday. Jan Bednarek volleys southampton up front against Arteta’s side at St Mary’s and the visitors were kept at bay by Fraser Forster as they sought a way back into the game.

Arsenal’s defeat was their third in as many games thereafter crystal palace and Brighton overwhelmed her too. Former England midfielder Owen Hargreaves assisted Spurs to win the fourth-place race after the weekend’s results, and Arteta’s latest comments will not be easy to read arsenal fans.

“They are really down today,” Arteta said at his post-match press conference. “They’re down because they can’t find the right answer, apart from what we can do better around the box and not win the game

“That’s the frustration — when someone’s better than you, you shake their hand and you have to do something, you have to believe that you have to be self-critical. But when things go the way they did – apart from 25 minutes against Palace, and some period against Brighton in the first half – it’s very difficult to explain and accept.

Arsenal recorded 23 shots at St Mary’s per official First League Statistics but could not find a way. It was a similar story against Brighton last week as Arteta’s side registered 20 shots on the Seagulls’ eight but lost 2-1 at home.

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Despite watching his team go empty handed, Arteta suggested his team was doing a lot of the right things. However, they lacked that extra ingredient to turn defeats into victories.

“It’s very difficult to predict because to create more – I can’t remember a game where Arsenal have played with this team where they kept creating and dominating a game,” he said. “But the outcome is what we end up having to be where we need to be and if we can’t do that, we won’t be there – it’s as simple as that.

“Because you don’t have enough quality to be there because we need to win football games and score more goals and that’s a problem we have at the moment.” Arsenal will return to action with an away game on Wednesday Chelseabefore hosting Manchester United on April 23, and the two upcoming games could end up defining their season.