Declan Rice has warned his Arsenal teammates that they must stop making ‘silly mistakes’ if they’re to win the Premier League this year.
Arsenal fell to a disappointing 2-0 defeat at the hands of Bournemouth on Saturday to see them lose ground on fellow title contenders Manchester City and Liverpool.
The Gunners’ task was made harder when William Saliba was given a straight-red card for a professional foul on Evanilson in the first half, meaning that the north London side had to play over an hour with just 10 men.
That challenge proved too much for Arsenal who were deservedly beaten by Bournemouth.
Not one to pull any punches, Rice spoke to Sky Sports after the game and said: “The fact of the matter is that we’ve shot ourselves in the foot three times this season in eight games and got away with it twice.
“Luck can’t go your way all the time and tonight Bournemouth kept probing and they ended up winning 2-0.
“I’m proud of us as a group of players to keep fighting and believing as we do but the naivety of it is that we need to stop making mistakes because we want 11 players for 90 minutes because that’s how we’ll win football matches.
“That’s how I’m seeing it today.”
Rice added: “With 10 men we showed a lot of character and personality to stay in the game but the big chance was Martinelli’s chance where the goalkeeper made a great save.
“They then got a corner a minute later and done us.
“There’s no regrets tonight other than the fact that we can’t keep making silly mistakes – especially if we want to compete and be at the top at the end of the season.
“You need your best players on the pitch and it gives the other players a mountain to climb when you’re down to 10 men, but the belief in this group is still so, so high.
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“We just spoke in there and we have such a big month coming up and so we’ll stick together.
“This is football, it’s a rollercoaster and it’s what happens but what’s most important is that we stick together.”
Arsenal are next in action against Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League on Tuesday, before facing Liverpool on Sunday, October 27.
