Arsenal: Mikel Arteta reveals why match ball partly to blame for Newcastle defeat in Carabao Cup
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Mikel Arteta believes his Arsenal players failing to adapt to the different ball used in the Carabao Cup contributed to them missing a hatful of chances in their defeat by Newcastle. The Gunners were beaten 2-0 in the first leg of their semi-final tie at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night after goals from Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon.
Arsenal squandered numerous opportunities on their way to a first home defeat of the season. They had 23 shots on goal, but just three were on target. Arteta believes the ball could have been a factor, bringing it up unprompted when asked if the missed chances could have an impact on his players from a psychological perspective.
In the Carabao Cup, teams play with a Puma football as opposed to the Nike one used in the Premier League. Asked about his players missing chances and how he can help them to put it out of their minds, Arteta said: “Nothing, just try and show them, give them kicks or tips of what they can do better.
“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. “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 is our world.”.
Asked specifically about the ball used in the Carabao Cup, Arteta said: “It’s just different. “Very different to a Premier League ball, and you have to adapt to that because it flies different. When you touch it the grip is very different as well so you adapt to that.”.
