Breaking down the opposition
A 72nd-minute strike from captain Martin Odegaard secured a hard-fought 1-0 victory on Saturday. The close-range finish finally broke Hull's stubborn resistance in a contest largely starved of clear-cut opportunities.
The result extended Arsenal's Premier League advantage to six points, aided by Manchester City's surprise defeat to Nottingham Forest. The victory also equalled the north London club's best-ever start to a league campaign, having registered nine wins from their opening ten fixtures.
Embracing an ugly approach
Despite the historic start, Arteta remains frustrated by his side's lack of ruthlessness. The manager feels his forwards are overcomplicating their play when faced with deep defensive lines.
"[We need to] be more efficient," Arteta said. "We are one against one against the keeper. That's happened twice today. There is a penalty there, there is another situation inside the box where the ball is bouncing. So many shots that have been deflected, blocked. We need to find ways to be more efficient, sometimes even more pragmatic.
"Sometimes my feeling is that we are trying to score a perfect goal against these low blocks. We need to be much more chaotic than that, and that's it. And open, I think, the scoreline much earlier because obviously that's going to change the course of the game."
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Generating volume and VAR confusion
Arsenal have now won eight matches by a single-goal margin across all competitions this term. Arteta acknowledged that while their finishing initially fell short on Saturday, relentless pressure ultimately paid off.
"We had enough chances to make the scoreline much bigger. We weren't efficient enough to do that," he explained. "And then we have to rely on generating volume, generating a lot of situations in and around the box, insisting, insisting and insisting until we are able to break them down. And this is exactly how we won the game."
The Spaniard also expressed confusion over a first-half VAR incident involving Kai Havertz. Referee Farai Hallam checked the pitchside monitor after Nobel Mendy pulled the forward's shirt, but ultimately awarded Hull a free-kick for an offside offence.
"I haven't watched it back and I didn't watch it back so I don't have to lie to you guys," Arteta noted. "I was surprised because when they sent the referee to the monitor, Benji [analyst Ben Chadwick] was telling me it's a clear penalty.
"So I heard now that they decided not to because of the starting position of Kai that he was offside. I don't know what the interpretation is. I'm sure they will make that clear to understand it."
Refining the final third
With the upcoming international break offering a brief pause, Arteta will have time to tweak his team's attacking patterns. Although Arsenal sit comfortably at the summit, the manager's desire for earlier breakthroughs highlights a clear ambition to kill off games more efficiently.