Mikel Arteta sets huge Arsenal challenge for Nottingham Forest clash after frustrating PSV loss

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has said his side must “reset” after their frustrating loss to PSV Eindhoven in the Europa League on Thursday evening. The Gunners needed to avoid defeat in the Netherlands to secure top spot in their group and earn passage through to the round of 32 – avoiding an extra game for finishing second and facing a Champions League dropout.

The first-half was less than ideal for the visitors, who were given two warning shots as the home side had two goals disallowed for offside. They didn’t heed them though as they continued to get pulled around until Joey Veerman fired PSV into the lead at the end of a well worked move.

That lead was soon doubled as goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale’s blunder saw him attempt to clear a corner with a punch, but instead saw him miss and allowed Luuk de Jong to head home. It marks another difficult moment for Arteta after a disappointing draw against Southampton last weekend.

With such a congested fixture schedule, the Gunners don’t have to wait long to put their performances right, with the next clash just a few days away. That comes against Nottingham Forest, who have shown they have plenty of fight after their recent win over Liverpool.

Amid a huge challenge to get their momentum back underway, the manager has called upon his players to get themselves back where they need to be with performances. Arteta told reporters after the PSV game: “It’s the end of a long run and now it’s time to reset and analyse what happened. PSV deserved to win, no question. We were nowhere near our level today.

“Last week the game was all ours. Today it was very different and when you play like that against the top teams it’s very difficult to win. Today we were extremely poor. There have been periods recently when we have been excellent and others when we have suffered. We’ve not had the consistency for 95 minutes that we want.

“We didn’t have the threat and aggression we’ve been playing at and that is worrying. The moment something went wrong we just went down and didn’t know how to react. It’s my responsibility to get the best from the players. They have been exceptionally good and playing at a level that probably no one expected. Now it’s down to me to get the best out of them.”