has blamed his side’s wayward finishing in their defeat to on the ‘windy’ conditions, saying it affected their passing and control.
The Gunners were beaten 1-0 at Villa Park on Saturday evening, with John McGinn’s seventh-minute strike inflicting just a second defeat of the season on the north Londoners.
Arsenal dominated the contest for large spells, particularly either side of half-time, but struggled to turn that control into clear-cut chances.
Captain Martin Odegaard went closest in each half, sending a left-footed effort into the clutches of Emi Martinez in the first 45 minutes before guiding a pull-back wide of the far post in the second.
Arsenal had five shots on target to Villa’s three, while they also edged the Expected Goals count with 1.3xG to Villa’s 0.7xG.
Arteta felt his side’s issue was not so much their finishing but the delivery of the final pass, saying the windy conditions at Villa Park caused a problem, though will definitely be working on improving their composure in front of goal.
Asked if there is anything he can do about his players’ profligacy, Arteta replied: ‘I think it was a bit windy today.
‘You see a lot of misplaced balls or not having the right touch or not having the right accuracy in certain passes.
‘I don’t know. But for sure I have a responsibility [to improve their finishing], I have to take it, yeah.’
On all the missed chances, he added: ‘Yeah we had so many big opportunities that we couldn’t finish when they were completely open to shoot.
‘We had two or three open goals almost that we couldn’t manage to score. There’s not much more that we could have demanded from the players than what we got today.
‘We’re very disappointed because we didn’t get the result that we wanted.’
Asked if Villa are serious contenders for the title, Arteta added: ‘Anybody that can win lots of games in a row. It will be in the hands of all us to merit to win every single week to be up there. Certainly they are right now.’
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