Arsenal Star Martin Odegaard Slams His Own Team After Shock Loss to Everton in Premier League

Like their Manchester counterparts, the Red Devils, Arsenal has struggled since their legendary manager Arsene Wenger's departure in 2018. While Wenger led them to three Premier League and multiple FA Cup titles during his 22-year reign from 1996 to 2018, their poor showing has resulted in continued criticism of the team after his exit.

Arsenal midfielder Martin Odegaard has hit out at his own team after the Gunners surrendered a 1-0 advantage before losing 2-1 to Everton on Monday night.

While Odegaard's 45th minute strike gave Mikel Arteta's side a 1-0 lead at Goodison Park, second half goals from Brazilian forward Richarlison de Andrade and winger Demarai Gray eventually sealed Everton's first victory in England's top flight since September.

Everton take all three points.

🔵 2-1 🔴 (FT) #EVEARS pic.twitter.com/SKiZqJo7sR

— Arsenal (@Arsenal) December 6, 2021

The Norwegian even accused his teammates of having "mental" issues before pointing out that Arsenal was experiencing defeats because the squad was focusing on preventing defeats in matches rather than winning.

"I think it is [a mindset problem]. When you're leading 1-0 you get afraid to lose the win and in my opinion that's what we did wrong today", Odegaard told the British media after his team's defeat. "You go for the second goal and that was the intention, but we didn't manage to do that on the pitch".

Even though Odegaard was still feeling the disappointment of losing the game, which his side should have won, he didn't hold back on the criticism, blaming their shoddy display for the upset.

"It's a hard one to take. I think in general we were not at the level we needed to be at today. We had some good moments, but we have to do much better. We should have been better", the 22-year-old footballer explained.

Odegaard even claimed that the prime reason behind Arsenal's loss was that the former Premier League champions failed to execute their own strategy on the pitch and allowed Everton to play their natural game. In the end, it cost Arsenal dearly.

"It's hard to say. That's just how it is sometimes. It's hard to say exactly what happened. We have to do better when we have that lead. We stopped playing and gave them the game they wanted to play", the Norway skipper concluded.

With their defeat to the Toffees, Arsenal notched up their second consecutive loss in the Premier League. On Friday, Cristiano Ronaldo's brilliance denied the Gunners a point as the Portuguese wizard secured Man United's 3-2 triumph with a scintillating double.

The Everton defeat has made a huge impact on Arsenal's position in the Premier League table. With only 23 points in 15 games, Arteta's team has now dropped to seventh while defending champions Man City continue to occupy the top spot with 35 points.