Mikel Arteta made a shocking West Ham claim when analysing the 1-0 defeat which has all but ended Arsenal’s title dreams.
As far as Premier League managers go Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta is among those who irritates opposition fans the most.
Many West Ham fans certainly feel that way, especially since he took Declan Rice to the Emirates.
Whether it be his antics on the touchline or his comments in interviews and press conferences, Arteta has an ability to rub opponents up the wrong way.
When West Ham held Arsenal to a 2-2 draw at the London Stadium to derail their title hopes in the 2022-23 season, Arteta said his side should have won by a landslide.
The Spaniard was furious his players did not ‘kill a team that is there for the taking’.
Despite his close relationship with David Moyes, Arteta criticised West Ham’s style of play – saying they only play in both boxes.
Fast forward to the next season and a 2-0 West Ham win at the Emirates ended up costing the Gunners the league again.
After that game, Arteta ranted about VAR not disallowing Tomas Soucek’s goal.
Once again he said West Ham only play in both boxes.
Hammers end Arsenal title hopes for third season running
And Arteta repeatedly stated the result was illogical because his side had “30 shots, they had two – three with the penalty”.
So when West Ham ended Arsenal’s title hopes for a third consecutive season, complete head loss from Arteta seemed inevitable.
Especially as Arsenal had Myles Lewis-Skelly sent off after the kind of intervention from VAR that proves the technology is needed given how far on-pitch refereeing standards have fallen.
The king of sour grapes was surely about to feast on his biggest bowl yet and wash it down with a pint of bitter.
Now Arteta has made a shocking West Ham claim after the fatal blow to Arsenal’s title hopes.
The Hammers produced their best and most complete performance under Graham Potter yet.
West Ham star Aaron Wan-Bissaka was the best player on the pitch.
Arteta makes shocking West Ham claim Arsenal defeat
Jarrod Bowen was ruthlessly clinical again and in the end he came close to getting a second goal.
At the other end, West Ham were rarely truly troubled and restricted Arsenal to just two shots on target – the same amount the Hammers managed.
The Irons did drop off a touch too deep after Arsenal went down to 10 men.
But as Alan Shearer highlighted about West Ham’s win at Arsenal, this was no backs-to-the-wall David Moyes-esque smash and grab.
The shocking thing about Arteta’s take on the Hammers is that he admitted they deserved to win.
Yes you did read that correctly.
Arteta conceded West Ham played well, were more clinical and Arsenal were not at the level required to beat them.
He even complimented West Ham, saying Potter has a ‘dangerous side’.
The Gunners boss then stated his players ‘deserve to feel pain’ after West Ham ended their title dreams.
King of sour grapes Arteta finally shows some humility
“Today we weren’t at the level required to be convincingly better than the opponent. It is painful. We need to feel the pain today, we deserve it…” Arteta said in his post match press conference, as quoted by the likes of The Independent and TNT Sports.
“We never got a grip of the game because we’re so inconsistent with the ball.
“We allowed them to run with simple giveaways. They are a dangerous team. They have the quality to deliver the moment. After that is becomes a difficult game. Then we get the red card and it’s a big mountain to climb. We try to react but we didn’t have specific quality moments.
“Very disappointed, obviously very angry as well. You have to congratulate West Ham for the victory and the way they played, but I think a lot from our side we never got right, and it didn’t allow us to get enough momentum in terms of playing with positive actions that could deliver into situations of threat.
“Even though the ball that we had and 20 shots, I never thought we were at the standards and the level that we needed, first of all to have more threat and then not to allow them to run. We lost a lot of balls and allowed West Ham to run in very dangerous situations.”
Knock me down with a feather.
Finally some humility from Arteta.
West Ham were excellent and deserve credit for the performance.
Arteta would have made himself look delusional had he claimed otherwise this time and he knew it.
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