Gun issues

Arteta admits Arsenal had ‘a lot of issues’ in narrow win over Hammers

MIKEL ARTETA has admitted that there were a lot of issues involved in Arsenal’s narrow win over West Ham. The Gunners have emerged as something of a dark horse under the Spaniard.

In a short space of time, Arteta has transformed the club – winning the FA Cup and Community Shield.

And on the opening game of the season, Arsenal blew Fulham away in a 3-0 win.

But yesterday they faced a much trickier opponent in the shape of West Ham, who managed to nearly get something out of the game.

Arsenal had taken the lead through Alexandre Lacazette but the Hammers struck back on the cusp of half-time thanks to Michail Antonio.

And it was David Moyes’ men who looked the most dangerous at times.

But Eddie Nketiah’s late strike managed to salvage all three points to make it two wins out of two.

However, Arteta was less than pleased with his side’s antics.

“We were a little bit lucky in certain moments for sure,” the Arsenal manager told a news conference.

“But as well, we find a way to win it and it’s the mentality I want that the team always believes that we can do it up until the last moment.

“Even if we have difficult games where we suffer, we make it difficult for ourselves in certain periods, but in the end it’s three points.

“This is why we are here. As well, take some big notes because there are a lot of things to improve.”

Arsenal’s win makes it two out of two and shows their other competitors they are prepared to fight for a spot in the top four.

“What I liked was the approach that the boys had in the last 25 minutes, when I could seem them coming down a little bit, and they lifted up,” Arteta continued.

“Probably, a few months ago, we would have drawn or lost that game and today we won it.

“In the end, you have to find a way because you are going to have games like this through the season.”

Arsenal were often exposed at the back, with Dani Ceballos and Granit Xhaka having difficult evenings in midfield.

Arteta wants to sign at least one midfielder before the end of the transfer window and is heavily linked with Lyon star Houssem Aouar and Atletico Madrid’s Thomas Partey.

The Spanish manager does not agree that yesterday’s match showed why he is in the market for those players but admitted he will look to add if the opportunity is there.

“No, I think they’ve been really good since I joined the club (Xhaka and Ceballos),” he added in his post-match press conference.

“Not only then but also this season, he deserved to play again today but I just wanted to rotate.

“I thought it was a game where we were going to attack the spaces and the way they defended, we wanted to create some situations with Dani there but if we can strengthen the team then we’re going to try and do that. Until the market is gone, everything is still open.” – Express Newspapers