Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has revealed he is “very unhappy” with the soft goals his side have conceded in recent weeks. The Gunners have conceded 19 per cent of their season total for goals in their last four games, having failed to keep a clean sheet in the league since their March clash with Fulham. It was another feature of their play against West Ham last time out as the north London outfit dropped a two-goal lead to draw the match. As a result, their lead at the top of the Premier League table was cut to just four points, putting the race with Manchester City in the balance.
When asked why his side dropped points after the Hammers clash,
Mikel Arteta responded: “Because after we could not control what West Ham was proposing. If you concede two goals away from home, it’s so hard to win football matches in the way we did. We have to blame ourselves there for how we defended our boxes.”
That same theme of conceding goals was on the manager’s mind once again in the build-up to the match with Southampton on Friday evening. When asked about conceding soft goals,
Mikel Arteta said: “Especially the last two goals we gave away, yes, very unhappy with that. It’s something we have to do much better to win games.”
Many have pointed towards injuries at the back as a key reason for such scorelines, with William Saliba one of the key absences in recent weeks. Arteta was keen to avoid that as a reason why goals have been conceded,
Mikel Arteta added: “Regardless of who plays, we have to defend those situations much better.”
The Spaniard will be keen to see an improvement from his team when they face the Saints, preluding their potential title decider against Manchester City next week.
