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Tottenham’s players have highlighted Arsenal’s mentality as the difference between the clubs. Dejan Kulusevski and Mickey van de Ven vented their frustrations after Sunday 3-2 home defeat In Derby, in particular, lamenting the softness of concessions.
Two of Arsenal’s goals came from corners – one a Pierre-Emile Hajbjerg own goal, the other a free header to Kai Havertz. This is an area of increasing concern for Spurs. They have conceded six times from corners in the last nine games and their record of 14 goals against set pieces (excluding penalties) is joint fifth-worst. Premier League. Arsenal have scored a division-high 22 set-piece goals (excluding penalties).
Kulusevski and van de Ven do not believe there is a gap between Tottenham and Arsenal In terms of capacity. Spurs hogged 62% of the ball and had 15 shots to Arsenal’s nine, including a handful of misses. But in the crunch moments, Arsenal – leading 3-0 at half-time – showed strength and focus.
“He’s more disciplined and a little more mature,” Kulusewski said. “That’s where we lack at the moment. What do I mean by that? They score in the corners. We agree. It’s quite easy. As a set piece it is strong in difficult moments. “
Kulusevski was asked if that summed up Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou’s message. “Yes,” he replied.
“It (the mentality) is in life,” Kulusewski said. “That’s the only thing that matters – the head. You can be good at football but you have to be strong in every situation. Arsenal have obviously done that in the last term. They will fight to win the league. We still need to do that. We are improving in other areas. We still lack a bit in that part.
“I don’t think it’s about ambition. Everyone wants to win but you have to sacrifice a lot for that. It is a lot. But talking about mentality, do you think it’s easy to be 3-0 down at half-time and then go out and play 3-2 against first (in the league)? That’s the mindset too. The second half was incredible. We are showing it … you have to show it for 90 minutes. Otherwise it is difficult. We are showing it in bits but we should do it more consistently.
Van de Ven said Arsenal’s clinical edge set them apart. Their other goal – scored by Bukayo Saka to make it 2-0 – followed a quick counter-attack that started on the edge of their own box before a long diagonal ball from Havertz.
“I don’t think we are worse than Arsenal on the football side,” Van de Ven said. “I wouldn’t say we have that problem. But you look at their goals and they were ruthless. They took every opportunity they had and that made a difference.
The game slipped away from Spurs after Saka scored on 27 minutes. Moments earlier, Van de Ven was denied an equalizer to make it 1-1 when VAR ruled he was slightly offside.
“If you give up three easy goals, you can play however you want but it’s hard to win,” Kulusewski said. “You can see his second goal, it’s very easy. Long ball to Saka from Kai and it’s 2-0. Of course we have to improve on that.”
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Van de Ven added: “The first half was not good from us – 3-0 … in a big game like this, it doesn’t happen in your own stadium. I think we played well in the second half. We pressed high and we controlled the game. But if you want to be the top team, you have to play in the first half at home. Can’t concede three goals.
Spurs lamented how Christian Romero saw a header go wide at 1-0 in the 19th minute and immediately hit another. But the VAR override upset him the most. When Pedro Porro’s shot hit Takehiro Tomiyasu, the ball fell perfectly from Gabriel Magalhaes to van de Ven. He was beyond the last Arsenal defender when Poro went for goal. The Arsenal touches were deemed a deflection by VAR and not intentional play.
“I don’t understand the rules in those situations,” Kulusewski said. “I can’t believe it. I was there. It hits two Arsenal players and is still offside. I don’t know… maybe I don’t know the rules. It was strange. It changes everything from 1-1 (back) to 1-0.
“From the first day they brought it (VAR), I wasn’t a fan. The fans, the players – I don’t think it’s fun for anybody. But that’s a whole different discussion.
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