Mikel Arteta accused his Arsenal players of failing to "respect the game" in their 3-0 defeat to Brighton at the Amex Stadium. Goals from Pascal Gross, Charalampos Kostoulas and Chema Andres consigned the champions to their heaviest Premier League loss in three years and abruptly ended their winning start to the campaign. Arteta felt his players were found wanting in the physical battle on the south coast and also bemoaned their sloppiness on the ball as they were overwhelmed by Brighton's pressing.
"A very disappointing result and performance," he said. "Full credit to Brighton in the manner they performed and went about the game. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player "They were another gear from us in the basics of the game.
They were always first in the first duel, in the second actions, second balls, and they started to play from there. "And on top of that, when we had the ball, especially in our own half, we were extremely poor technically, not respecting the game and the game principles you have to apply against a team that want to press you man to man. "That never gives you the option to dominate and control the game in the manner you want.
And then when we had big chances, we didn't put them away. "We have to make sure we learn the lesson because this can't happen again." Speaking in his press conference, Arteta added: "There are a lot of moments when the ball is 50-50 and it changes hands, and most of the time it was for them. "Sometimes there were some technical errors involved that opened us up in a really difficult way, but that's something to learn.
"From the first throw-in you could sense it, it was so clear. We put ourselves in trouble one time, two times, three times and we needed to get out of that much quicker than that. That's one of the biggest lessons that we have to take from the game." The defeat ends a run of eight consecutive Premier League wins for Arsenal.
Arteta, although critical of his side's display, called for perspective ahead of the three-week international break. "It's not going to take away what the team has done and the boys have done in the last six or seven weeks since coming back from the World Cup," he said. "With 18 players coming back, what we've done, the way we've competed and the amount of games we've won has been remarkable.
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