Mikel Arteta's response to Patrick Viera after Man United loss is spot on

Arsenal lost to Manchester United in a game where no one expected them to drop points. Not because Manchester United were not playing well - they were - but because of the importance of the fixture.

Manchester City had already won their game, and so had Aston Villa, so the onus was on Arsenal to do what they need to get a win over their rivals.

However, a 3-2 loss at home certainly did not help Arsenal's case as their lead was brought down to just four points.

Patrick Viera was visibly frustrated with his former team's performance after the game, and on Sky Sports, talked about how the team needed to be braver than they were, as well as how there is a lack of leadership in this team.

He said: "The feeling is that there’s no risk, there are too many passes going backwards, not forward. I want Arsenal to be more brave, take a little bit more risk."

"They are still four points clear, but there are still questions about the mental strength of the team. They need a leader to lift the spirit of the team."

Mikel Arteta's response to Patrick Viera after Man United loss is spot on

Viera is right, and Arsenal were lacking that creative spark in the middle of the park. They were not taking risks, and had to pay the price.

Mikel Arteta, who was also visibly frustrated by the loss, talked about Viera's quotes after the game, and what he said felt spot on.

He said: "That's fine. We accept every opinion when it comes and where it's coming from, and they will have the right reasons to say. At the end we have to show the mental strength that we have on the pitch when it comes to matchday and we were absolutely brilliant in Milan and today we weren't that good.

"I don't know if it was mental because of how much they play, but because we were poor, especially technically in certain aspects of the game against a team that, when you make those mistakes, they can punish you big time, and that was the difference."

Obviously, one game will not undo everything that Arsenal have created over the course of the season so far, but there is an argument to be made that what Viera is saying is still pretty much bang on.

And, because of that, Arteta's response was also bang on. He accepted that the team were not good enough on the night, and that the team must show the mental strength they have on the pitch.

Arsenal need more from their leaders, and to get to where Arsenal so desperately want to be, they would need to be more attentive in games like this.