Arsenal's 2-0 defeat to Tottenham in Sunday's north London derby victory leaves the Gunners 15th in the Premier League; it is their worst start to a league campaign since 1981-82
Monday 7 December 2020 12:39, UK
Arsenal defender Rob Holding admitted his side are letting the fans down after their poor start to the season worsened with a 2-0 defeat at Tottenham.
The Gunners have won just one of their last seven Premier League games and have posted their worst start to a campaign since 1981-82 as they sit in 15th position with 13 points from their opening 11 games.
They were sunk by first-half goals from Heung-min Son and Harry Kane against their rivals and a lack of creativity again cost Mikel Arteta's side.
"It is frustrating," Holding said of the Gunners' poor start. "It is a record that you don't want to be a part of. We are frustrated as players and we are letting the fans down. We need to change that, win some games and put that to bed."
Arsenal controlled much of the game in north London but Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris was rarely tested as the visitors drew another blank.
Only the bottom three have scored fewer goals than Arteta's men so far this season and Holding knows that is where the problem lies.
"Finding the back of the net just seems to be a problem at the moment, but hopefully there is going to be a bit of luck to change that," the defender said. "Hopefully the goals will start to come.
"They took their chances and that's the story of the game. No matter how many crosses we put in, if we don't get on the end of it, and put it in the back of the net, it is pointless at the end of the day.
"We are getting the chances, it is just putting them away. Maybe the first goal we get will just be a bit of a deflection or a trickle into the net and bit of luck on our side.
"Then hopefully the confidence will be there to carry on and score some more goals. But we just need that little bit of luck to put one in the back of the net.
"We have just got to, in training, keep creating chances and taking them - and be confident. We have got to give the strikers some confidence to put the ball in the back of the net and hopefully we can a get goals at the weekend."
Mikel Arteta accused Thomas Partey of failing to grasp the gravity of the situation after he left the field injured in the build-up to Tottenham's crucial second goal.
Arteta was seen attempting to push Partey back onto the field moments before Kane rifled Spurs into an insurmountable lead, and the Gunners boss admitted his player was in the wrong to leave the pitch.
"Thomas is out, he's limping, he's in pain, he has to come off and we lost a man in that crucial transition moment," Arteta told Sky Sports. "He has to fall on the floor.
"I wanted him on the pitch, doing whatever he could for the team in that situation. No one expected him not to be in that position."
Speaking in his post-match press conference, Arteta added: "I was trying to push him back on the pitch, I don't think he realised the gravity of the situation when he left his position.
"That was probably because he was in a lot of pain. There is nothing we can do at the moment to resolve that."
Asked if he was frustrated or annoyed with Partey's exit, Arteta replied: "It was too quick, we were through, I think it was a four-against-three situation for us to play the final ball and we were through. Suddenly they were coming to us and Thomas is walking to me and I am trying to push him.
"I haven't spoken to him. I don't know exactly how it happened and if he felt something really serious. I will look at it and we will talk about it."
Arsenal were not outplayed at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium but rarely threatened Spurs, delivering a league-high 44 crosses into the area throughout the duration of the game but failing to find the target.
It means the Gunners have now won just one of their last seven Premier League matches, while Arteta is coming under increasing pressure on the back of Arsenal's worst league start since 1981/82.
For Arteta the salutation to Arsenal's problems is simple one: "By scoring goals. Very simple. We need to score goals. It is not sustainable.
"It doesn't matter what we do in other departments if we don't score, we need to put the ball into the net urgently. At the moment it looks like we need a lot to score a goal.
"In terms of the performance, they did everything that I asked them to do. We played the way we had to play this game. All the stats are in our favour, at the end of the day it is about putting the ball in the back of the net."
While Arsenal are enduring their worst start to a campaign in almost 40 years, Jose Mourinho's Tottenham are enjoying their best start to a Premier League season in years.
A seventh win of the season extended their unbeaten run in the league to 10 games and moved them two points clear at the top of the table, once again Son and Kane were front and centre.
Son and Kane set up each other's first-half strikes, meaning they have now combined for 11 goals this season, with Kane's strike a landmark 11th against the Gunners, making him the highest scorer in the history of north London derbies.
"You know they are world-class," Mourinho said. "It's as simple as that, but when we play against (Manchester) City, after the game I was speaking to the Portuguese boy, (City defender Ruben) Dias.
"I was telling him, 'You are not going to play one single match in the Premier League where the strikers are not good'. This is the Premier League.
"But I have to admit that Harry and Sonny are world-class players and on the top of what they do they have a very good sense of the team.
"They have a very good sense of the balance that they need and they also do incredible tactical work for the team when the team doesn't have the ball. So top players, amazing."
