“We didn't get what we deserved. But there is an element of putting the ball in the back of the net.”
If Arsenal had a slogan for the past week, perhaps even the entire season, it would be something close to what Mikel Arteta said above, after this latest FA Cup penalty defeat to Manchester United.
Arsenal played for more than an hour with an extra player and created 3.15 expected goals in their FA Cup penalty shootout loss to Ruben Amorim's side. Almost 2.0 of that went to Kai Havertz.
Arsenal scored once, through Gabriel's deflected attack. The German didn't get one and subsequently missed the only penalty in the shoot-out.
'It's unbelievable that you don't win that match. That's actually true [how you] In short,” Arteta added. “The dominance, the superiority over the opposition, everything we did to try and win the game.
“We [scored] once. With the number of situations, chances and penalties we had, you have to score more, we didn't do that. We go home very sad, but I couldn't be more proud of my players.”
The blame doesn't lie entirely with Kai Havertz. Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard missed a second-half penalty that in normal time would have sent the Gunners on their way to the fourth round of the FA Cup.
But Havertz had similar, better chances. There was the sliced finish from the penalty area, just after Arsenal fell behind following Bruno Fernandes' opener. But his off-target scoop from a few yards away had an xG count of 0.85 – statistically a better chance than a penalty (0.79 xG).
Asked what he said to Havertz after the match, Arteta replied: “For him and for all of them: that I love them, that we all love them. Individually and collectively they are a delight.
“What this team produces every three days is incredible, no matter what. I'm not going to lose sight of that because of a few results because we didn't deserve it.
“What we can do better, let's try to do that. But it's difficult to achieve, it's an emotional part, it's also about trust.”
The idea that Arsenal's only recognized No. 9 option – days after missing another big sitter in the Carabao Cup semi-final defeat to Newcastle – squandered a huge chunk of their chances in another missed opportunity in a cup competition, begs the question why Arteta refuses to publicly commit to signing a new striker, let alone actually try to get one.
“I understand that [transfer question]”But I couldn't love our players more and we are very focused on the players we have to perform at the highest level,” Arteta said after Sunday's latest defeat. “The rest is not in our hands, not in my hands.”
But on New Year's Day, weeks after Bukayo Saka was ruled out with a long-term injury, Arteta hinted after the win over Brentford that if his side were to suffer further fitness attacks, the club might have to act.
“When I see the willingness of each individual to tackle everything and the versatility we can create within our idea, the answer is no,” he said on January 1 when asked if his team was overloaded.
“But we don't know if if something else happened we would have more problems, but hopefully not.”
Since then, Arteta has lost Ethan Nwaneri to a muscle injury, with Gabriel Jesus – who revived his Arsenal career with a stunning run of six goals in his last six games – sent off with a knee injury against United.
“I feel very worried,” Arteta said of Jesus, who went home on Sunday and went to hospital on Monday.
“To get on a stretcher in a lot of pain and touch his knee, it doesn't look good.”
Earlier this week, Arteta dismissed the idea that Arsenal need to bring in a body just to fill a spot; they need someone who can really add something to the team.
Given his team's injury situation and the strikers' recent levels of performance in the cup competitions that matter, he may have lost that right. Action is needed now.
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