Mikel Arteta has admitted that Arsenal's performances will give him "a few nightmares" after they rescued a point late on against West Ham on Sunday.
Alexandre Lacazette bagged an 82nd-minute effort to complete a remarkable turnaround from the Gunners as they came from three goals down to seal a 3-3 draw against the Hammers at London Stadium, delivering arguably their performance of the season after the break.
The result keeps Arsenal's hopes of a place in Europe next season afloat in a congested race, but their manager acknowledged that his side continue to make it difficult for themselves.
What did Arteta say?
"[It's] hard to explain," the Spaniard told Match of the Day after the final whistle. "We knew the game we would face against West Ham, they can create problems for any team.
"The first goal is something they do really well - the second and third goal, and the chance at the end, is unacceptable. We didn't look at the races.
"That is the level we can show, the other is top level and probably the best we play all season - we could have scored six or seven goals and won the game, but we cannot have two faces.
"We stuck to the plan we had because we were getting further away from that, we started to play much better and I have faith in the boys they are not going to give the game away. We had the belief we could do something.
"This game is going to give me a few nightmares because it is really difficult to stop some of the things we have been doing to hurt ourselves."
Arteta on slow start
The Gunners faced a three-day turnaround before squaring off against David Moyes' side, having been in Europa League action on Thursday, and their boss wondered if potential fatigue was to blame for their sluggish performance.
"I'm very disappointed because I cannot accept my team to play the way we did in periods in the first half," he told Sky Sports. "I expect we play at the level we did afterwards.
"The first goal, it can happen. It is a really good combination [by West Ham]. That is fine. The way we concede the second and third is unacceptable. I don't know if it's a hangover from Europe, tired, focus, it was more than one player that switched off. We have to right that quick."
Further reading
- Tierney: Arteta is a genius
- Arteta lining up summer targets for Arsenal
- Arteta is 'amazing' tactician, says Smith Rowe