Mikel Arteta has apologised to Arsenal’s supporters after his side slumped to defeat against Liverpool on Saturday.
The Reds ran out 3-0 winners at Emirates Stadium, with Diogo Jota bagging a brace and Mohamed Salah getting in on the act, too.
Arteta was bitterly disappointed with Arsenal’s showing, describing it as one of the worst performances since he took charge in December 2019.
Liverpool were comfortable winners and could’ve won by more, prompting Arteta to apologise to fans for the display.
“I think every defeat is different. This one hurts deeply because of the image that we showed today and the lack of clarity that we wanted to get out from this game,” he said.
“We need to apologise to our people, to our fans, and this standard is nowhere near what we want. I am fully responsible for that.
“I don’t know if it was the worst [performance of my reign], but probably one of the worst and the one that really shocked me.”
Arsenal had to cope without Bukayo Saka, David Luiz, Emile Smith Rowe and Granit Xhaka - who were all out through injury - but Arteta refused to use that as an excuse.
“I don’t care who is missing, that’s excuses. The international [break] is excuses and I hate excuses,” he added.
“They were much better than us in every single department. They fully deserved to win this match by a bigger margin, in my opinion. I am fully responsible for that. The rest, about one player, two players, three players [missing], that’s excuses.”
