Hector Bellerin has delivered a concerning assessment of Arsenal, with the Spanish defender admitting the Gunners continue to shoot themselves in the foot.
Consistency has been an issue in north London for some time, with Arsene Wenger, Unai Emery and Mikel Arteta unable to get a fallen giant back on its feet.
Another blow was suffered in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final clash against Slavia Prague, with the visitors grabbing a vital away goal in stoppage-time at Emirates Stadium in a 1-1 draw, and Bellerin concedes that the Premier League heavyweights remain their own worst enemy.
What has been said?
Bellerin told reporters after seeing Nicolas Pepe's well-taken 86th-minute opener against Slavia cancelled out with seconds left: “I have to say, I felt like we had the game under control for the whole time but the last five minutes.
“We had chances to score, we get to 1-0 in the 85th minute, and then it’s about us controlling and managing the game.
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“We put ourselves in situations that we shouldn’t be at that stage and it has happened to us before. It is something that is in our hands and I’ve said it before - teams are not beating us, it’s us losing the games.”
Can Arsenal turn the tide?
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The Europa League offers Arsenal their only route to major silverware and Champions League qualification in 2020-21. Domestic struggles have seen them slip out of all cup competitions, and they are 10th in the Premier League.
Arteta has a lot of work to do in order to get the Gunners back on track as questions start to be asked of his long-term future, but Bellerin remains confident that further progress will be secured.
He added: “It’s difficult to take, but at the end of the day there’s still everything to play for and it’s 1-1.
“We know how they play and I think we had really good moments in the game. We broke down their pressure and we created chances, so there’s nothing that worries me for us to go to Prague and do the job there.
“You can blame it on anything you want, but at the end of the day it comes down to the goals we score and the goals we concede, and I think throughout the game we put ourselves in situations that we could have taken the lead, but this is football.
“You’ve got to keep trying, you’ve got to keep trying, and in another game we will score them but today wasn’t the day.”
Prior to facing Slavia again, Arteta's side have a Premier League trip to Sheffield United on Sunday.
