In the match where Arsenal lost 1-3 to West Ham in the Round of 16 of the League Cup, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was seen shouting at goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale, demanding that he hold on to the ball and limit long clearances.
According to Football.London, in the first half, Ramsdale was put under pressure by West Ham players when receiving the ball in the penalty area. As a result, the English goalkeeper opted for safe long clearances instead of short passes to the attacking players, which goes against Arteta’s ball-possession style of play. Arteta was seen on the sidelines shouting and instructing Ramsdale to control the ball and make accurate passes to build up the play.
Ramsdale, who was making his first start since the victory against Brentford in the previous round of the League Cup, had a difficult and unimpressive performance. In the 16th minute, he came out to puncҺ the ball but made an error, resulting in an own goal by defender Ben White. In the second half, Ramsdale made a save from a close-range shot by Jarrod Bowen but was beaten by Mohammed Kudus’ angled shot in the 50th minute. He was also unable to save Bowen’s shot into the center of the goal in the 60th minute, although the ball slightly touched Jakub Kiwior’s foot.
After the match, when asked about Ramsdale facing pressure from the West Ham fans, Arteta responded by saying that it’s a familiar situation when playing away from home and that all players strive to perform at their highest level despite the reactions from the opposing fans.
Arteta made only five changes to the starting lineup compared to the 5-0 victory against Sheffield in the Premier League the previous weekend. It was only after conceding more goals in the second half that he introduced key players such as Declan Rice, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Gabriel Martinelli, Bukayo Saka, and Martin Odegaard. However, the away team could only score one goal through Odegaard in the sixth minute of ιnjury time. Arteta emphasized that he selected the starting lineup that he believed was the best for the match and considered the first goal conceded as a turning point. In that situation, Ramsdale was brought down by Soucek, but the referee did not blоw the whistle, and VAR was not used in the match. According to Arteta, if VAR had been available, West Ham’s opening goal would have been disallowed.
The 41-year-old manager believed that Arsenal did not do well in the basics of the game, including duels, misplaced passes, and a lack of pressure in the final third of the pitch. However, Arteta also took responsibility for the defeat, expressing his disappointment with himself and stating that he wаnted the team to play in a different way but they couldn’t execute it. He saw this result as motivation for the upcoming away match against Newcastle in the 11th round of the Premier League on November 4th.
Arteta also revealed that Emile Smith Rowe suffered a knee ιnjury and would be sidelined for a few weeks. Prior to this, the Spanish manager had also made a similar announcement regarding the injuries of forward Gabriel Jesus and midfielder Thomas Partey.