“They were strangers” - Theo Walcott makes bold admission about Arsenal after defeat to Bournemouth

Theo Walcott has hit out at Arsenal players and claimed that they played like strangers in their defeat against Bournemouth on Saturday, October 19. The Gunners hero said that Mikel Arteta's side kept losing the ball a lot and that resulted in two key incidents leading to the loss.

After Arsenal's 2-0 loss at Bournemouth in the Premier League, Walcott claimed that they struggled to get into the game from the first minute. He believes that the Gunners were frustrated a lot on the pitch and was visible from the sidelines. He said via Team Talk:

"It's lick your wounds and try and move on and not dwell on the disappointment. Of course at this moment in time it's going to be disappointing because these are the games that really cost them in previous years.

"They struggled from minute one. It was like they were still on international duty, sort of locked away. They were strangers, which I found really profound. They lost the ball too often. There was a lot of arms thrown around, a lot of frustration I felt. It wasn't the free-flowing football that we're used to seeing Arsenal play, there was a lot of people arguing with each other."

"I never felt Arsenal were in control at any point. They felt really sluggish coming out of the blocks, it was like they didn't really have a lot of time to work together. They were second to everything, it didn't feel like they were hungry to get a result. They went through the motions at times and that was when Bournemouth smelt they can get something out of this game," he added.

William Saliba got sent off in the first half after he brought down Evanilson, who was chasing a poor back pass from Leandro Trossard. The Gunners also gave away a penalty late in the game after a sloppy pass from Jakub Kiwior. Ryan Christie (70') and Justin Kluivert (79' p) scored for the hosts.

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Mikel Arteta puts Arsenal's loss to William Saliba's red card and Gabriel Martinelli's miss

Mikel Arteta has admitted that William Saliba's red card cost Arsenal the match against AFC Bournemouth. He added that Gabriel Martinelli's miss minute before the opponent's first goal was also a key factor in the loss.

He told Sky Sports after the match:

"We are very disappointed with the result and gutted because we had to play in that context again. Even more difficult than the previous two that we have faced this season to do it with 65 or 68 minutes with 10 men at this level, it's just an impossible task. It's an accident waiting to happen not to get the points.

"I cannot fault the team for their effort, their commitment, to play in the way we had to do it. There was a big moment at 0-0 when we have a one-vs-one with the 'keeper and we don't manage to score. Then in the other end we do that."

Arsenal's loss sees them sit third in the Premier League table – a point behind leaders Liverpool who play Chelsea on Sunday. They could slip to fourth if Enzo Maresca's side manage to pick up all three points at Anfield.

Saliba will be missing the match against Liverpool at home next weekend in the Premier League. However, Bukayo Saka could feature after missing today's match with an injury.