There was no attempt to sugarcoat Arsenal’s abject display at Wolves when Mikel Arteta faced the media in his post-match press conference.
He was as shocked as anyone by the slow-motion car crash that played out across 97 minutes at Molineux – a game that was all but won. Opta’s supercomputer had Arsenal at 98.1% to take the points when Piero Hincapie doubled the lead, only for two to be thrown away in dramatic fashion at the death.
For the third time in five games, Arsenal failed to take maximum points from a winning position, but doing so against a side rooted to the bottom of the table feels as damaging as it is unforgivable.
“I think any question, any criticism, any opinion, you have to take it on the chin today,” said Arteta.
“Any hit, any bullet, take it, because we didn’t perform at the level that is required. Anything that anybody says can be right because we didn’t do what we had to do.”
Around 9pm last night, Arsenal fans were looking ahead to Sunday’s north London derby and dreaming of a very early St Totteringham’s Day. Now, a showdown with a side who’ve had 10 days off and are chasing a new-manager bounce following the appointment of Igor Tudor looks a lot less appealing.
Arteta says it’s up to the players to flip a narrative that has seen Arsenal go from ‘champions elect’ to ‘bottle jobs’ in the blink of an eye.
“The way to do it is on that pitch on Sunday – a great opportunity that we have.”
Asked if his side are strong enough to bounce back, he added: “We’ve always done it, but you’re only strong if you show it the next time you do it. To talk and say it here, it’s simple, and we have to do it on the pitch.”
Three weeks ago, Arteta rallied the troops by urging everyone associated with the club to embrace the pressure of competing for top honours. It’s a message that’s harder to repeat when supporters are wondering which medieval torture methods they can inflict on the players after last night’s trauma.
“The more they can be with the players [the better], and I’m going to be the first one to be very close to them because this is nothing to do with attitude or desire. It’s completely the opposite. It’s part of football.
“Whatever could have gone wrong today, it went wrong because when you look at the way we conceded the two goals, without really conceding any other situations, it’s very rare. But it happened, and it happened for a reason, and we need to react to that.”
In recent weeks, we’ve referenced Arsenal succumbing to the yips during games; as far back as December, when Wolves nearly snatched a point at the Emirates, the signs were there. But last night, the way players struggled with even the most basic facets of the game, like passing and sprinting, was truly extraordinary. Opta reports their second-half passing accuracy of 75.1% was their fourth-lowest in a Premier League match this season.
“It was a moment after another moment after another moment. Even though we scored the second goal, we never got the grip and dominance of the game,” reflected Arteta.
He added: “If I ask them [the players’] what we have to do now, what the game requires, they know it, but we weren’t able to do it throughout the game, and it was in various sequences and a lot of times as well.
“That’s what we have to do better, but we didn’t do it, and that’s the reality.”
The reality now is that Arsenal’s five-point lead could shrink to two if Manchester City win their game in hand. With the sides due to meet at the Etihad in April, the title is no longer in the Gunners’ hands alone. Whether that showdown even matters may depend on how quickly Arteta can stop the rot. He’s got his work cut out.