Mikel Arteta says his side must get "slapped" after their 2-1 loss to Brighton on Saturday.
The Gunners were bested by Graham Potter's team at the Emirates Stadium, dealing a blow to their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League next season.
Arsenal have now lost two matches in a row, having also lost 3-0 to Crystal Palace in the league on Monday.
What has been said?
Arteta says his side must take a critical look at their performance again following the latest set back.
"What happens is we criticise ourselves a lot again. Get slapped again because we deserve it a lot and we were really poor in the first half and then lift ourselves up," he told reporters.
"We know this road is taking ourselves nowhere, especially with where we want to be.
"We have everything to play for in the last eight games and we have to have that energy and visualise the beautiful challenge that we have ahead and not sit back and see what happens."
Arteta on Arsenal's 'cold atmosphere'
"We were sloppy on the ball again," he said.
"We were second best in several situations, we didn’t gain any momentum, we didn’t show any purpose in the game, we didn’t play with the right speed and transform the game that Brighton proposed today.
"The first chance they had, the only chance they had I think, they scored. We created a cold atmosphere that we weren’t comfortable with, but when we tried to change it, it was too late.
"It was great not to give up but it was too late."
Arteta added: "We created [the cold atmosphere].
"The fans were here and they were exceptional, and you can see the moment we gave them something, what we tried.
"We played a game where you could not see the purpose or the intention of what the team was trying to do and like what can they do? Nothing.
"We have to give them something and we didn’t give them anything in the first half and this is down to us."