Mikel Arteta denies he was trying to 'send a message' with late changes in Carabao Cup loss to West Ham

Mikel Arteta insisted he was not trying to send a message by making late changes in Arsenal’s 3-1 defeat to West Ham in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup.

The Gunners dominated possession at the London Stadium but could not find a goal until the 96th minute.

By then it was too late as West Ham were already 3-0 ahead and looking ahead to competing in the quarter-finals.

It was only Arsenal’s second defeat of the season in all competitions.

Arteta brought on first-team regulars Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli in the 66th minute when Arsenal were 3-0 down, and then introduced Martin Odegaard in the 80th minute.

Asked whether the changes were meant to act as a message to those who started the game, Arteta said: “There are no messages to send.

“Whatever messages we send we send them with words.

"We have tried to put out a team that we believed was the best to try to compete today. We have to see much more from the team to earn the right to win in a place like here."

Reflecting on the result, Arteta added to Sky Sports: "Very disappointed. I’m responsible for that. It wasn’t good enough, we didn’t compete well enough.

"I tried to warn them for 48 hours what was coming and how important it was going to be and how we have to compete in this game before earning the right to play, and we didn’t do that.

"Overall we were nowhere near the level that we have to show.”

Arteta also confirmed that Emile Smith Rowe missed out due to a knee injury.

Smith Rowe started the weekend’s Premier League 5-0 win over Sheffield United but was not included in the squad to face West Ham.

Arteta said ahead of the game: “We’ve got an issue with him.

“He felt something in his knee and he started to feel some pain after the game and we are assessing it, but yeah, a big worry with him.”

Arsenal travel to Newcastle on Saturday and then host Sevilla in the Champions League, live on TNT Sports.

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