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Is season running away from frazzled Arsenal?
Is season running away from frazzled Arsenal?
"Enjoy your quadruple, pal."
That was the message from the official Southampton X account to a disgruntled Arsenal fan who had chirped back at the Saints' post celebrating their shock FA Cup victory.
Just 14 days ago the Gunners were being tipped for an unprecedented quadruple but after defeats to Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final and the loss to Southampton in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, those dreams are in tatters.
Shea Charles scored an 85th-minute winner to dump the Gunners out of the competition after substitute Viktor Gyokeres had levelled following Ross Stewart's first-half opener.
It is the first time this season the Gunners have suffered back-to-back defeats and it is just their fifth loss of this campaign.
The talk will now move to whether Arsenal will be able to block out the noise and deal with the pressure that will be heaped onto them following this result, with the Premier League and Champions League still to play for.
The Gunners have not won the Premier League for 22 years and have finished in second place for three successive seasons.
The Carabao Cup final was Arsenal's first chance to win a major trophy for six years.
And after losing to City and now being knocked out of the FA Cup by a lower league team for the first time since 2021-22 - a third round loss to Nottingham Forest - the Gunners need to ensure these defeats do not turn into a slump in form.
"They have to not let the season run away from them," former Arsenal and Southampton forward Theo Walcott told BBC Sport.
Everything they have built this season, don't let it affect them. They have been in this situation before and they don't want to relive that.
Mikel Arteta has consistently spoken about everyone at the club's desire to win but with the end of the season approaching, games running out, and a £250m spend in the summer, the pressure is at an all-time high.
Walcott said he noticed a "nervous energy" on the touchline at St Mary's that has been seen before in recent years.
"Visually watching Mikel on the sidelines, it was elements of previous years where that energy reflected into the team," he said.
It was very tense. Not just Mikel but a lot of the staff were out there at times. It was like too many cooks in the kitchen, too many messages.
It was a poor Arsenal performance by the high standards they have set throughout the season.
And despite dominating possession, having 23 shots and levelling the game in the 68th minute, the Gunners never really looked like they would go onto win.
"I love my players. What they have done for nine months. I'm not going to criticise them because we lost a game here in the manner that they tried," Arteta said.
"And the way they are putting their bodies through everything. Some of them probably didn't even have to be here. I'm not going to do that. I'm going to defend them more than ever.
"Someone has to take responsibility. That's me and we have the most beautiful period of the season ahead of us.
"In the season, you always have moments. Normally two or three. This is the first moment that we have.
So stand up, make yourself comfortable and deliver like we've been doing all season.
The Gunners boss was then asked how he can prevent this form rolling into the rest of the season and derailing their Champions League and Premier League campaigns.
"Giving them [the players] clarity, giving more conviction, trusting our players, believing in what we are doing," Arteta said.
"And continue to do that with the tweaks that every game demands.
But especially maintaining the speed, the attitude and the energy at the highest possible level. Because that's critical to perform at the level that we need to win matches.
The side Arteta picked for the match against the Saints showed seven changes from the team that lined up against Manchester City at Wembley two weeks ago.
This was not just down to rotation from the Arsenal manager but to a bout of injuries that have hit the squad.
Including the lead up to the international break, 11 Arsenal players withdrew from their national teams.
That led to speculation Arteta was putting pressure on his players to pull out but the team on the pitch for the loss to Southampton suggested that was not the case.
Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard, three of the players to withdraw from international duty, were not in the squad while William Saliba was named on the bench.
Captain Martin Odegaard made his first start since January and Kai Havertz was withdrawn while Arsenal were chasing a winner.
And in a worry for Arteta, Gabriel Magalhaes had to be withdrawn with a knee injury.
But Christian Norgaard, one of the Arsenal players who has had limited game time this season and started the match, says the fact it was an unfamiliar side did not play any part in the loss.
"No, there are no excuses. It has nothing to do with injuries or availability," Norgaard said.
We had a really good team on the pitch that should have been competing on a high level. We need to pick ourselves up. We have two big competitions left to compete in.
Despite an error against Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final, Arteta stuck with cup goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga in favour of regular David Raya.
"I don't think it was anything to do with Kepa in terms of them losing, but you have to play your best team," former England defender Micah Richards told BBC Sport.
Walcott added: "Playing your best team was the right thing to do.
It's easy if I say that now, but you want a reaction off the cup final and it wasn't that - it was worse.
Manchester City have been a thorn in Arsenal's side in their quest for silverware.
In two of Arsenal's three second-placed finishes in the Premier League, the Gunners have been behind Pep Guardiola's side.
City beat Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final with one of their best performances of the season and that seems to have galvanised them.
They put four past Liverpool in the FA Cup to reach the semi-finals earlier in the day and the Gunners have to travel to Etihad Stadium in April, which is likely to play a big part in this season's title race.
"It was only a couple of weeks ago people were saying Arsenal could do the quadruple, Now they are in two competitions," Richards added.
"Man City, after what they did earlier on, look like they are going to push them all the way for the league.
"The most disappointing thing for me was watching Arsenal and their attitude. They have been excellent defensively, in transitions they have been very good, the shape has been good and the effort has been as good as anyone.
For them to turn up the way they did, I thought was very poor.
Arsenal will hope this blip is only a footnote in what can still be a successful season - but the Gunners are going to have get back to their best, and quickly.
Source: BBC
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