Arteta’s perfect Arsenal response to Crystal Palace shock

How do you respond to such a shocking performance and result? In the first few hours after defeat it’s a case of slamming hard on the Arsenal panic button, something Mikel Arteta can’t do.

Regardless of which angle Monday’s 3-0 hammering at Crystal Palace is viewed from, it’s hard to find positives. The fans’ response to the manager and the substitutes were the only shining light on a dreary night in south London.

It’s still a tough one to take. Given the form the team had shown in the weeks and months prior, the collective drop was the most unwelcome of surprises.

There is only one solution and that is refocusing to produce an immediate response, something Arteta, love him or hate him, is deft at.

Mikel Arteta’s perfect Arsenal response to Crystal Palace shock is one without excuses, blaming or otherwise –  it’s total focus and all about the collective

"“Congratulations to Palace for the game they played but we made it impossible for ourselves with the way we competed,” he told Sky Sports.“We were poor, especially in the first half. I apologise to our supporters. We didn’t have the presence today or the composure to dominate the situation so that is what I’m most annoyed with.“First of all we need to put our hands up and get the criticism we deserve. Then we accept it, look ourselves in the mirror and look to the next game. This was not good enough.”"

These are, it need not pointing out, just words. But they’re the right words, said the right way. Even his tone of voice wasn’t defeatist, instead almost uplifting. This was the reaction of a man willing to delete the last 95 minutes of history and start afresh.

Arteta does not look for excuses. Throughout all of his post-match responses to this game the central point was Palace’s strengths and Arsenal’s weaknesses. He never blames the players, instead always speaking about as a collective.

Throughout this run he’s remained disciplined in his approach and refused to be drawn into any conversations about being favourite for the top four, or the form of rival teams. It has been Arsenal, Arsenal, and nothing but Arsenal. When the team wins they enjoy the moment, and as soon as they get back to the changing room it’s about how they can improve in training for the next game.

He wants his team to control what they can control. There is no way he will accept that performance – one he fully accepted his role in – with this blameless mentality one he’s cultivated at the club as part of his cultural overhaul. It’s this mindset that will have kept the players on board in the aftermath of the three opening games of the season, those which he declared as ‘the best two weeks in his career’.

In difficult times like these you need a leader at the helm who can compartmentalise a defeat and allow it to remain in isolation. It can’t filter into the next performance, nor can it manifest into the players for longer than it already has. Beat Brighton and suddenly the atmosphere shifts completely.

While it may not be enough, Arteta’s staunch belief in managing that which is in his side’s control is precisely the right kind of leadership needed after such a chastising defeat.