Jamie Carragher believes Mikel Arteta will be 'furious' and hurting as his Arsenal players depart for international duty following a shock 3-0 defeat to Brighton. The Gunners had won their opening four league games, but that run came to an abrupt end at the Amex Stadium.
Pascal Gross, Charalampos Kostoulas and Chema Andres scored as Brighton secured a stunning victory, moving them up to third in the early-season table. Arteta was highly critical of his own players after the match, saying: 'Extremely disappointed. But first of all, we have to congratulate Brighton; they deserved it.'
'They were the better team, and from our side, there were certain basics in football that you need to accomplish in football, especially in the Premier League that we didn't,' Arteta added. 'In the first duel. Winning the first ball, especially with how direct they were. They put us in a really difficult place.'
Arteta's frustration over timing of defeat
The Spaniard highlighted technical errors as a key issue: 'In our own half, the amount of technical errors. We didn't respect any principle of play that you have to get out of that man to man situation and that put us on the back foot so it was very difficult to control the game.'
Carragher, speaking on his Sky Sports podcast, said the timing of the defeat – just before the international break – will compound Arteta's frustration. 'What will hurt Mikel Arteta is the fact that it's the game before the international break. He'll be so desperate to have his players on the training pitch, have a team meeting, go through the game. He'll have to wait three weeks for that now and maybe by that time his anger will have subsided, because I'm sure he'll be furious.'
Carragher still backs Arsenal for title
Despite the setback, Carragher expects Arsenal to challenge for the Premier League title again this season. 'I think Arsenal will be fine, I think it's more about what it does for the other teams. I think everyone raises their belief, thinking that if Brighton can do it, why can't we do it?'
'We can't expect the best teams to perform every single week. It was a real bad one for them, but how consistent Arsenal have been for so long, I'm sure they'll get back on track,' he added.
Title race: Arsenal and City clear of the rest
Carragher sees the title race as a two-horse affair between Arsenal and Manchester City, with his doubts over City dispelled by their midfield signings of Elliot Anderson, Enzo Fernandez and Ayyoub Bouaddi. 'I didn't see them winning the league without Rodri, but I must say Elliot Anderson has started brilliantly,' said the Liverpool legend.
'Enzo coming in as well from Chelsea, he's a good player. Whether people like him or not doesn't matter. They've got two really good midfield players there. Maybe you could argue that the midfield area is better now with the three players coming in to replace the two of Rodri and Bernardo Silva. Certainly a lot younger and fresher. I think those two [Man City and Arsenal] are a gulf away from everybody else.'
