In Premier League Matchday 5, Arsenal suffered a 3-0 away defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion. Following the match, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta attended the press conference to address media questions.

Mikel, what are your most immediate feelings right now—anger, frustration, disappointment?

Extremely disappointed. But first, I think we have to congratulate Brighton & Hove Albion for winning the match. They deserved it; they were the better team on the pitch. From our perspective, there are fundamental principles in football that you must adhere to, especially in the Premier League, but we were far from those standards today. Whether it was winning first contact or competing for second balls, we were completely on the back foot against their direct, physical style of play.

More importantly, when we did win possession back, especially in our own half, we made numerous technical errors and completely failed to execute the tactical principles needed to break down their man-marking and pressing. This left us passive and defensive throughout, making it extremely difficult to control the game. Even when we had moments of initiative and broke through their lines, the quality of our attacking play failed to compensate for the mistakes we made elsewhere. They deserved to win, and this is a painful lesson for us.

Has this served as a wake-up call for the players, reminding them how difficult every match is?

Yes. In fact, I think they already know it well; we knew before the game how difficult this match would be. The first key point in our pre-match briefing was the importance of winning duels from the start: if you cannot dominate those battles, it will be extremely difficult to control the game, and your chances of winning will be very slim. We anticipated this. But we must applaud the opponent because they suffocated us and showed a stronger desire to win and more aggression than we did. At this level, that must be respected and understood above all.

This seems completely out of character for your team. You typically show strong dominance in duels and pressing. Why do you think this happened today?

Firstly, because Brighton & Hove Albion played exceptionally well. Their pressing was more aggressive, their tackles were better timed, and they won most of the 50-50 balls. Secondly, we made several serious technical errors that directly exposed our defense and put us in extremely difficult positions. But these are lessons we must learn. This defeat will not erase the achievements we've made over the past six or seven weeks since returning from the World Cup. With as many as 18 players back, the competitive state, fighting spirit, and number of wins have been remarkable. But today's loss is a profound lesson for us, showing what it takes to win at this level.

Did you have an early intuition in the first few minutes that something was wrong on the pitch?

You could tell from their first throw-in. The signs were crystal clear. We put ourselves in danger once, twice, three times, and we should have gotten out of that passive situation much quicker. That's one of the most crucial lessons we must take from this game.

Given that the passive tone was set very early, did you consider making immediate substitutions at halftime?

I did consider it. But after assessing the situation, we believed that given the tactical adjustments we wanted to make in the second half, it wasn't the optimal moment for changes, so we decided to maintain our approach.

This was the first time Guimarães and Rice started together in midfield. Do you think this pairing will become a cornerstone of the team in the future?

They are certainly one of our midfield options. They performed well in previous away matches when we won. Today, this partnership didn't function smoothly, largely because there were too many defensive problems behind them, which prevented them from playing their game. But this partnership will continue to develop. It's still early—they've only played together for a few dozen minutes in total. The chemistry will improve and bring us great rewards.

There's been a notion that Arsenal has already secured the title this season. Does today's result remind people that the Premier League race is never straightforward?

For us, this is crystal clear. We know it, and we've emphasized over the past two days what it takes to come here. Within a very tight schedule, this is our fourth consecutive away game. We know how difficult it is to win every match and are fully aware of what it takes against our next opponent. This is definitely not a surprise, but it doesn't diminish our immense disappointment and frustration right now.

Your team has been extremely dominant this season, but today's comprehensive defeat is unlike anything you've experienced recently. What was your state of mind on the sidelines as mistakes accumulated and the score widened?

My only thought was to find a way to change the situation. However, every time we began to establish control and momentum, another misplaced pass would immediately revive Brighton's belief and hand them back the initiative. Once caught in that cycle, it becomes extremely difficult to turn things around. We made adjustments at halftime, but we made poor decisions again early in the second half, putting ourselves under immense pressure. By the time we finally regained some composure, it was probably already too late.

AF's PC site is now live! Browse full news, comments, match details and stats on your computer. Visit: www.allfootballapp.com