What Did Mikel Arteta Get Wrong Against Crystal Palace?

It was a really bad day in the office for Arteta and Arsenal yesterday night when they played away from home to Crystal Palace.

One of the major concerns, when the lineup was released, is that there has not been good team rotation by Mikel in the team and to now brought in a player in Nuno Tavares that has not played active football for months against the tough forwards of Crystal palace is ridiculous.

Tierney's situation was not mentioned as he was not even on the bench and a rusty Nuno Tavares was used in his place but he could not cover well for him as he was the major weak link that lead to the first goal. 

Another blunder was not starting with the firing young Brazilian, Gabriel Martinelli who has been in good form tormenting defenders. After he was brought on in the second half of the game, things actually got better in the attack. 

Mikel Arteta described Arsenal’s performance as “unacceptable” and apologized to the club’s supporters after his players were overrun by Crystal Palace on a humbling night that could prove hugely damaging in their pursuit of the top four.


Arsenal was thrashed 3-0 at Selhurst Park after another energetic and impressive showing by Patrick Vieira’s team, with Jean-Philippe Mateta, Jordan Ayew, and Wilfried Zaha all scoring to secure a deserved victory.

The defeat meant that Arsenal failed in their attempt to overtake Tottenham Hotspur in fourth place, with the two north London rivals now level on points. Arsenal has played one game fewer than Antonio Conte’s side but they now have two major concerns over key players Kieran Tierney and Thomas Partey.

“It is time to accept the criticism, put your hands up and apologize was because this performance was not good enough for this club, and then react,” said Arteta. “We are humble enough to accept the criticism. You don’t feel sorry for yourself because we lost players and a football match.

“Congratulations to Palace for the game they played but we made it impossible for ourselves with the way we competed. You have to be physical and run and then you earn the right to play. We were really inconsistent on the ball and that is unacceptable.

“We did not have the presence today or the composure to dominate the situation so that is what I am most annoyed with. Some days you are not there and you are late all the time. They got on top of it and had a good atmosphere and we could not get out.”

There are fears that Tierney will be ruled out for the rest of the season with a knee injury, while Partey limped off in the second half with what appeared to be a recurrence of a previous muscle problem. Arteta described Partey’s injury as a “big concern”, although the full extent of the issue was not immediately clear.

Both players are crucial to Arteta’s system and their absence could expose the lack of depth in the Arsenal squad, following a January transfer window in which a series of players were allowed to leave without any replacements being found.

Deputy left-back Nuno Tavares came into the side for Tierney but was hauled off after just 45 minutes, with Arteta preferring to use midfielder Granit Xhaka as a makeshift defender in the second half.

Palace have now gone five matches unbeaten in the Premier League and they were dominant throughout the first half against an Arsenal team that could not escape the home side’s intensive pressing.

“From the first minute we wanted to put pressure on them and not allow them to have too much time on the ball and we did it well,” said Vieira, the former Arsenal captain who seemed to know where to find all of the weaknesses in Arteta’s system.

“There is more belief in the team. The players understand each other better and are starting to really know each other. There is a clear idea of how we want to play. The way we managed the game showed we are growing up as a team.”

Palace started the match aggressively and it was clear within minutes that an opening goal was coming for them. It eventually stemmed from a set-piece weakness — a weakness for Arsenal but one they seemed to have corrected this season. As Conor Gallagher’s delivery reached the back post, it somehow ricocheted off the back of Joachim Andersen’s head and bounced towards Mateta, who could not miss from close range.




A London derby under the lights at Selhurst Park is always a boisterous affair, and now the home crowd was as relentless as their team’s pressing. Within eight minutes they had a second goal, finished by Ayew after Gabriel Maghalhaes had foolishly lunged towards Andersen’s drilled pass. Tavares, the left-back, was nowhere to be seen as Ayew, his right-winger, curled a smart finish beyond Aaron Ramsdale.

In their fine run of recent form, Arsenal had been consistently composed and slick in possession. Here, it was the opposite. Even Martin Odegaard and Partey, so impressive in the last few months, appeared unable to complete even the simplest of passes in midfield.

With Arsenal lacking options on the bench, and with Tierney at home, Arteta had to turn to Xhaka to play at left-back when it was decided that the struggling Tavares simply could not be allowed to continue.

The change worked in the sense that Arsenal had a few half-chances after the break, for Emile Smith Rowe and Odegaard, but there was always danger at the other end. Zaha loves to play against the team he almost joined, and he galloped into space on the counter-attack. Odegaard tripped him in the box, and he converted the penalty with ease.

Eddie Nketiah struck the bar for the visitors but the game was now over, and the Palace fans rose as one to sing the name of Vieira. How that must have stung for the Arsenal supporters, to see their old hero robbing them of all their hard-earned momentum.