The loss sent fans and experts on a tirade about how nothing has improved since last season for the Gunners.
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Arsenal have had the worst possible start to the 2021-22 English Premier League campaign. They fell to a shock 2-0 defeat against newly-promoted club Brentford at the Brentford Community Stadium on Friday. The loss sent fans and experts on a tirade about how nothing has improved since last season for the Gunners. It might be just the opening week of the new season but questions about Mikel Arteta’s capabilities as a manager are already being called into serious question. The Arsenal manager himself admitted that his team was second-best on the day, but called for cooler heads to prevail.
“I’m disappointed. It’s not the way we wanted to start the season. We didn’t start well, conceding a goal in an isolated incident. We didn’t cope well with the second balls or long balls. And that’s all they needed to create problems for us. Then we conceded from a long throw,” Arteta said after the match to Sky Sports.
Arsenal was the dominant side in terms of possession and shots in the match but they just could not make any of it count. The Gunners had 22 shots in the game but only four of them were on target. This was one of the areas Arteta criticized. He also said that his team did not play to the basics correctly. The Spaniard also said he did not want to use the absence of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette as excuses for the poor performance.
“The biggest worry was our threat in front of goal. The amount of times we got around the box and got in great situations but it wasn’t enough threat or shots on target. If you don’t do that in the Premier League then you won’t win,” Arteta said. “I don’t want excuses. We missed players but I don’t like to hide. We were not good enough to beat them and did not do the basics. Arsenal has started in a disappointing way but we will review and speak with cool heads and try to put it right as soon as possible,” he concluded.
Arsenal have a massive task on their hands as they will face European champions Chelsea next in the Premier League. The Blues will start their campaign against Crystal Palace on Saturday.
For Brentford, the victory was like scripting a chapter in the club’s history. Over a decade ago, the Bees were struggling in England’s lowest tier of professional football, the fourth division. They then made their way up gradually, and after seven consecutive top-half finishes in the EFL Championship, they finally made it to the top and beat one of the greatest clubs in the country on their first day. Manager Thomas Frank was over the moon with his team’s incredible victory.
“The fans were amazing, what an atmosphere. I’m a bit speechless. First time in the top flight, we are opening the Premier League season, fans can dream we are number one in the Premier League. It’s a fantastic story,” Frank said. “I think the players today were amazing, they ran themselves to the ground, played with intensity, they were brave and pressed high constantly. On set-pieces I thought we were better, that’s why we did long throws and at times we could go high and knew that we could win the ball and create chances,” he added.
