ARTETA ANGUISH Arsenal's Spanish manager Mikel Arteta reacts during the English League Cup semi-final first leg football match between Arsenal and Newcastle United at the Emirates Stadium, in London on January 7, 2025. Newcastle won the match 2-0. Picture: Glyn Kirk/AFP
Image: Glyn Kirk/AFP
Football coaches generally have a few standard responses when they try to explain why their team lost a match, but Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta’s reason behind his team’s Carabao Cup defeat to Newcastle on Tuesday was bordering on bizarre.
Alexander Isak opened the scoring eight minutes before the interval and then turned provider for Anthony Gordon in the 51st minute as Newcastle secured the win in a contest they failed to dominate.
In fact, Arsenal had 23 shots to just the seven of the visitors. Still credit has to be given to the Newcastle defence with keeper Martin Dúbravka front and centre in keeping a clean scoresheet.
Arsenal also enjoyed the lions’ share of possession with 70% of the ball. The Gunners also reeled off 571 passes to the 258 of Newcastle.
Afterwards, Arteta said playing with a Puma soccer ball and not the Nike ball used in the Premier League took some adjustment.
“We also kicked a lot of balls over the bar, and it's tricky that these balls fly a lot so there’s details that we can do better,” said Arteta.
“But at the end that’s gone, there’s no way back it's about the next game and that’s our world, the reality.’
Asked to elaborate on just exactly what the problem with the ball was, Arteta said: “No, it's just different. It's very different to the Premier League ball and you have to adapt to that.
“It flies different... when you touch it, the grip is very different as well so you have to adapt to that.”
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