It sure sounds like Mikel Arteta is dodging blame for Arsenal's misery

The season started off as well as anyone could have imagined for Arsenal - and it still has been a brilliant one so far - but there have been a few cracks showing in the last week or two.

Arsenal have not been bad, by any means, and they are still the favorites to win both the Premier League and the Champions League, at least in my opinion, but there have been a few performances that have left fans confused.

Arsenal lost to Aston Villa on Saturday in a really shocking result. Even though Villa have been playing really well as of late, winning so many games in the last couple of months, there was still an expectation that Arsenal would give them a better fight. It was expected that Arsenal would play better football than they actually did.

Mikel Arteta was visibly frustrated after the result. He obviously wanted to win the game and maintain their five point lead - which is now reduced to just two over Manchester City - but it wasn't to be, and Arsenal are to blame for it.

However, in the post-game presser, it seemed that Arteta was, at least in my opinion, trying to deflect some of the criticism that he would eventually face. He wanted to win - obviously - but the quotes he made after the game, I'm not sure I agree with them.

Mikel Arteta's quotes were really confusing, especially with Arsenal's title aspirations

When asked about the impact this loss will have on the league standings, he said: "That's the league. You go to Old Trafford, you go to St James Park, you go to Chelsea, you come here - we've been in a lot of difficult grounds and today the result could have been different.

"The reality is not, and that's the step that we have to make. We've been 18 games unbeaten and still we are there, very close to each other. That's the level of the league and we know that.

"That's the opportunity that we have ahead of us and that's it. Now it's time to bounce back. They have given me all the right reasons to think that we're going to continue to perform at the same level, because what the boys tried to do today, again, with the schedule that we had, it was amazing. So, [we] move on."

I don't know if I agree with Arteta here. Yes, these grounds are really difficult to play on. Arsenal have played away from home against some of the best teams in the league, as well as at some of the most difficult stadiums in the country, but that is what you have to do.

Those are the stadiums where you just have to win if you carry the aspirations of being champions. Arteta's Arsenal have now dropped points at Villa Park, Stamford Bridge, Stadium of Light and Anfield. They have drawn two and lost the other two. It is not the end of the world. But the league is decided on the finer margins.

If Arsenal lose the league by one or two points in the last game of the season, they will inevitably lament these sorts of games.

They might win it all, and then it would not matter where they dropped points, but Arteta is not really in the right here. That's what I think.