In the 5th round of the Premier League, Arsenal suffered a heavy 0-3 defeat away at Brighton. After the match, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta attended a press conference to answer media questions.

Mikel, are you angry, frustrated, disappointed? What emotion are you feeling most right now?

Very disappointed. But first of all, I think we have to congratulate Brighton for winning the match. They deserved it; they were the better team on the pitch. From our perspective, there are some fundamental principles in football that you must follow, especially in the Premier League, but we fell far short of those standards today. Whether it was winning the first contact or the second ball, we found ourselves in a very passive situation against their direct play and penetration.

More seriously, when we finally managed to regain possession, particularly in our own defensive area, there were far too many technical errors and a complete failure to follow the tactical principles needed to break down their man-to-man pressure. This kept us constantly reacting and under pressure, making it very difficult to control the rhythm of the game. Even when we took the initiative at certain points and penetrated their defence, the quality of our finishing didn't meet the standard, and we couldn't compensate for the many mistakes we made elsewhere on the pitch. So ultimately, I think they deserved to win, and this is a painful lesson for us.

Should this be a wake-up call for some players in the squad, making them realize how difficult every match is?

Yes, I think they already know. We knew before the match how difficult today would be. The first point we emphasized in our pre-match briefing was the early duels: if you can't win the physical battles, it will be very difficult to control the game, and your chances of winning will be minimal. We anticipated this. But we still have to praise our opponents because they suffocated us and showed more desire and aggression than we did. At this level of competition, this is something that must be respected and understood above all else.

Hi Mikel. This seems out of line with your team's usual style of play. As you just mentioned, you typically show strong dominance in duels and overall pressure. Why do you think this unusual situation happened today?

First, because Brighton played very well. Their pressure was more aggressive, and their tackles were timed better. There were many 50/50 second balls in the game, and they won most of them. Second, some serious technical errors on our part directly exposed our defence and put us in very dangerous situations. But all of this is a lesson we need to learn. This certainly doesn't erase the achievements of the team and the players over the last six or seven weeks since the World Cup. The performances, the fighting spirit, and the number of matches we've won with around 18 players returning have been remarkable. However, today's defeat is a deep lesson for all of us, making us very aware of what it takes to win at this level.

It felt like in the first five minutes... did you have a feeling early on that something was wrong on the pitch, that certain things weren't right?

You could tell from their first throw-in. The signs were very clear. We put ourselves in danger once, twice, three times, and we should have gotten out of that passive situation sooner. This is one of the most important lessons we have to take from today's match.

Mikel, as you said, the passive tone of the game was very evident early on. Did you feel like making changes right away at half-time?

I did consider it. But after our assessment, we decided that, given the tactical adjustments we wanted to make in the second half, it wasn't the optimal time to make substitutions, so we ultimately decided to keep things as they were.

Mikel, this was the first time Guimarães and Rice played together in midfield, and it's difficult to build chemistry in a short time. Do you believe this partnership will become the core foundation of the team in the future?

They are certainly one option for the midfield pairing. They performed very well in our previous away matches, and we won those games. However, today, this pairing didn't run smoothly, largely because there were too many problems with our defence behind them—we failed to create an environment where they could play a completely different game. But this partnership will definitely continue to develop. We're still in the early stages; they've only played a few minutes together. This chemistry will definitely improve in the future and bring us many advantages.

Hi Mikel. I know you won't agree with this, but there's always an assumption from outside that Arsenal have secured the league title this season. I think today's result serves as a reminder to the outside world that winning the Premier League is never straightforward.

For us, this is very clear. We know it well; we've emphasized over the last couple of days what it takes to come here. This is our fourth consecutive away match in a very congested schedule. We know how difficult it is to win every match, and we fully understand what it will take to win against our next opponents. So this is certainly not a surprise, but it doesn't reduce the great disappointment and our poor mood right now.

Mikel, you've been very dominant in the league so far this season. But in terms of how Arsenal were beaten today, it's been a long time since the team suffered such a heavy defeat. When you're on the sideline, seeing mistakes pile up and the score widen, what goes through your mind?

My only thought was to find a way to turn the situation around. However, every time we started to build more control and take the initiative, the next handling error would immediately reignite our opponents' belief and give them momentum. After getting trapped in that vicious cycle, it becomes very difficult to turn things around. We tried to make corrections at half-time, but early in the second half, we made two or three more very poor decisions, putting ourselves under immense pressure. By the time we finally managed to regain momentum, it may have been too late to salvage anything.

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