Arteta calls Arsenal's defending 'naive' after Villarreal loss
Arsenal, who started their preparations for the new season with victories over AC Milan and Newcastle United before losing to London rivals Tottenham Hotspur, found themselves trailing 2-0 inside 33 minutes against Spanish side Villarreal at the Emirates on Wednesday.
"Today I think the result is painful. I think they were super efficient but we've been naive, especially the way we have defended in open spaces and that's something that, especially the way we play, we have to absolutely nail," Arteta told reporters.
"Today we haven't been good at all in that department and that has cost us the game for sure."
Arteta, however, was pleased with what he saw from striker Viktor Gyokeres, who completed his 63.5 million euros ($74.14 million) switch from Sporting last month, after handing the 27-year-old Swede his first start in an Arsenal shirt.
"I think it was very important for him to start a match and start to have the feeling and the connection with the team," Arteta said.
"He's been with us only a week or so, but I really saw a lot of things and a lot of purpose, especially the way he was attacking certain spaces."
Arteta also heaped praise on highly rated 15-year-old attacking midfielder Max Dowman, who won a penalty for Arsenal.
"He continues to impress, without a doubt. The impact he had in the game again today, the efficiency that he shows in every attack and action, it's incredible," the Spaniard added.
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Dear Singapore, your girls playing football want more than applause — they want momentum
Dear Singapore, Yesterday, I saw a girl playing football at a park near my house. It was late, the kind of hour when dinner plates are cleared and day turns to night. She was alone under floodlights, just her and a football, with her bicycle parked neatly by the park. She wasn't doing anything fancy — just touches, turns, juggling. Focused. Steady. No phone, no coach, no noise. The quiet rhythm of practice. I stood there for a while, not to intrude, but because she reminded me of someone I used to know. Me. On weekdays after school. On Saturday mornings. And the times I had to spare. Sometimes my brother would join me. But oftentimes it was just me and a football — and a big, audacious dream. You wouldn't have looked twice at me then. A small, tan-skinned child on an empty pitch. No spectacle. No spotlight. Just one girl believing she could do something that hadn't quite been done yet. Singapore, you weren't built for people like me. Not at first. Not for the girl who wanted to play football professionally. Not for the girl who said 'no' to the expected route and 'yes' to a life on the move, on the margins, chasing something as uncertain as it was beautiful. But Singapore was where it started. Where I learnt to fight through humidity and homework, where I learnt to run harder because no one thought I should even be on the pitch. Where I learnt that dreams don't always shout — they persist. Quietly. Daily. In floodlit parks and on concrete courts, in the early mornings and on aching legs. They keep going even when no one is watching. Especially then. That's what I wish more people knew about this life. Not the headlines or the milestones, not the signings or firsts. But the in-betweens. The airports and cold nights in foreign cities. The games where your touch is off and the critics are loud. The training sessions that test not only your body but your belief. The long walks home with your head down, wondering if it's still all worth it. And then you see a girl under floodlights, alone with a ball, and you remember why you started. I've had the honour of being the first Singaporean woman to play in a European league. The first Singaporean to win a European league and cup title. And every time I walk out onto a pitch, I do it knowing I carry more than just my own story. I carry the weight and wonder of every young girl who dares to believe that she can too. That's why I'm writing to you. Singapore, I don't want applause, I want momentum. I want little girls to stop being the exception when they show up on the pitch. I want them to be seen, supported, coached, celebrated — not after they leave the country but before. Not after they win something, but because they dared to try. We need fields where girls don't feel as if they're intruding. We need coaches who see potential, not difference. We need schools that nurture sport not as a side project but as a valid, vital dream. Because that girl at the park yesterday? She's already choosing this life. She's already falling in love with the game in the purest way. And if we let her, she'll go far.
