Mikel Arteta unhappy with Arsenal despite salvaging draw at Liverpool

Mikel Arteta was not happy with Arsenal's performance at Anfield despite coming from two goals down to salvage a 2-2 draw on Merseyside.

The Gunners boss said he was "disappointed" with the showing and claimed his side's standards in the first half were not up to expectations. He went on to acknowledge he had to take responsibility for how his team performed and approached the opening 45.

With Arsenal in need of a win to secure Champions League football for next season, it is hard to disagree with the Spaniard's feelings. Coming up against a Liverpool side that were potentially still suffering that notorious 'title hangover' and off the back of a defeat to Chelsea, the Gunners had a chance to snatch something at Anfield, but didn't take it.

Mikel Arteta unhappy with Arsenal performance against Liverpool

Speaking to arsenal.com following the game, Arteta said: "I'm very disappointed, because we can talk about the reaction and the second half, what we've done, but I don't like that at all."

"I like action, not reaction. And what I saw from the team in the first 25 minutes is nowhere near the standards that we require, especially in things that we can control and we have to do."

The boss' point was a fair one with the Gunners struggling to perform consistently throughout games on a number of occasions this season. Arsenal have often started matches poorly and not grown into them until later or have began brilliantly and then eventually dropped points due to shoddy endings.

In regard to the standards, Arteta once again has a very valid point. While the title is now wrapped up for Liverpool, Arsenal have frequently not been up to the expectations needed to compete and that was the case again at Anfield. With Champions League football still in need of wrapping up, Arteta's side had to put on a solid show on Sunday, but failed to do so for the entire game.

Arteta acknowledged he was at fault for this display and said: "And that's fully my responsibility.

"And yes, the way we played afterwards, we reacted again with a lot of injuries and playing in this atmosphere and with how much hurting we went through in the last few days after the PSG outcome. Learn from it."

For Arteta to be taking the blame is admirable, but questions do have to be asked of the players at times. The draw with Liverpool saw some members of the squad look sloppy at times and while they were hurting from a tough loss just days before, a key part of football is not letting those scenarios keep you down forever.

Regardless, Arteta's comments after the game were justified. Arsenal have not been good enough on too many occasions this season and were arguably fortunate not to have lost to Liverpool on Sunday. The Gunners' poor first half performance could have seen them be well out of the game and even after a resilient fight back to 2-2, Mikel Merino's red card could have been disastrous. It was a crucial point on the road nevertheless.

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