Arsene Wenger Comments on Arsenal Mentality After 2-1 Defeat to Watford

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has doubted the concentration levels of his players after their 2-1 defeat to Watford on Tuesday, although he said they did not deserve to lose the match. 

The Gunners' Premier League title chances were dealt a significant blow against the Hornets at the Emirates Stadium, as they failed to recover from an early two-goal deficit.

Wenger, who was in the stands due to his ongoing touchline ban, dismissed suggestions his team aren't up for the fight but speculated his players were lacking the appropriate focus.

"I don't think we have a power problem," Wenger said, per Oliver Todd of MailOnline. "But we were not mentally ready to deal with the physical duels."

He continued: "You don't win 47 points after 23 games with no physical power, but we have to switch it on 100 per cent in the Premier League. That's what it's about. It was obvious we lost duels and were not sharp enough. It looked more mentally that we were not ready for the challenges."

Additionally, the Frenchman said that had a few more breaks gone Arsenal's way, they would not have lost, per football journalist Peter Hall:

"

Wenger blaming luck: "It was not good in the first half. We were a bit unlucky. After that we responded. We don't deserve to lose the game."

— Peter Hall (@PeteHall86) January 31, 2017"

Arsenal were slow out of the blocks on a rainy evening at the Emirates. Younes Kaboul and Troy Deeney were on hand to give Watford a quickfire two-goal lead, as they capitalised on some timid defending from their hosts. 

ADRIAN DENNIS/Getty Images

The Gunners responded in the second period, with Alex Iwobi halving the deficit and Lucas Perez rattling the bar. But a cacophony of boos greeted the final whistle, as Arsenal slumped down into third place in the table, nine points behind leaders Chelsea.

The frustration among the fanbase is understandable, as this midseason deterioration is an all too familiar one for them:

Ahead of the campaign, the Gunners looked better equipped to cope with opponents like Watford.

Shkodran Mustafi has been a fine acquisition at the back, Granit Xhaka was set to add aggression and thrust in midfield—although he has overstepped the mark on a couple of occasions—while Perez looked like a forward who would bring industry to the point of the attack.

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So it will be a big concern to Wenger that the frailties that have become synonymous with this group of players—dwindling attentiveness, a lack of hunger in physical battles and profligacy in front of goal—reared their head again in this defeat.

Samuel Luckhurst of the Manchester Evening News suggested that perhaps it's the manager, not the players, who is holding this team back in pursuit of the big honours:

As Wenger noted himself, to have accrued a points haul of 47 at this stage of the campaign is a decent return overall, and some perspective must be applied in regards to Chelsea, who are enjoying an almost immaculate campaign. Every side in the division has found it difficult to stay in close contention to the Blues.

Even so, it's been 13 years since Arsenal were last crowned champions of England, and for the supporters, seeing the same mistakes over and over again must be galling. They are errors that will need to be eradicated ahead of their next outing, when the league leaders welcome the Gunners to Stamford Bridge on Saturday.