Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger expressed frustration with his side’s inconsistency and criticised their mental sharpness after they needed an own goal to snatch a draw from Southampton only three days after beating Newcastle United 7-3.
But he confirmed that his search for a remedy will not include bringing back the club’s former striker Thierry Henry for a second comeback season.
“We didn’t create a lot after having scored five at Reading, seven against Newcastle,” the Frenchman complained. “The goal chances we created were not a lot and our game lacked purpose, lacked penetration, lacked speed - all the qualities that we usually have and that we didn’t see tonight.
“It is frustrating. It is nothing to do with the physical side. In a game of that magnitude against a Southampton team that was really highly determined, I felt we lacked purpose in our game, and it was more mental than physical. We lacked sharpness.
“There is no specific reason. We prepared normally, we prepared well, and, maybe Southampton deserve some credit as well. They fought for every single ball until the last second.”
It was Theo Walcott’s free kick that was put into his own net by Guly Do Prado, but otherwise Walcott was anonymous after his hat-trick on Saturday.