Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta blamed the physics of the ball used in the Carabao Cup for his side's poor finish against Newcastle United on Tuesday.
Gunners slumped to a 2-0 defeat on home soildespite dominating the stat sheet. They managed 70% possession and 23 shots on goal, but only three of those efforts were on target. Meanwhile, Newcastle hit the target from four of their seven total shots.
This is not the first time Arsenal have been accused of lacking an advantage from open play, but Arteta insisted the Carabao Cup ball did not help his players on Tuesday.
Asked how he can help the team take their chances, Arteta replied: “Just try to show them, give them advice on what they can do better. We also hit a lot of balls on the post and it's complicated for these balls to fly a lot so there are details we can do better.”
Regarding the ball, Arteta continued: “It's just different. Very different with a Premier League ball, and you have to adapt to it because it flies differently, when you touch it, the grip is also very different, so you adapt to that.”
Arteta continued to recognize the quality of Alexander Isak, a transfer target for Arsenaland the difference such a clinical forward can have on a team.
“He was involved in both goals, unfortunately both times he had the ball in the box and that's what you get when you have real quality up front,” he said.
“They can make a difference. They are very clinical.”