‘Arrogant’ Arsenal called out for ‘believing their own hype’ after Brighton debacle

Arsenal have been accused of potentially “believing in their own hype” after their perfect start to the new season came to an end in spectacular fashion at Brighton on Saturday.

The reigning Premier League champions had not found themselves 3-0 down in a Premier League game since May 2023, when they also, ironically, lost to the Seagulls by the very same scoreline.

While that game was at Emirates Stadium, this time around it was on the south coast, as Mikel Arteta’s men were taken apart by an on-fire home side – suffering just their third league loss since February.

And, speaking on talkSPORT, Highbury Squad’s Sophie Nicolaou felt that a touch of arrogance had crept into Arteta’s squad after their dazzling start to the season in all competitions.

“Arsenal were humbled,” she told Shebahn Aherne and Tony Cascarino on the Weekend Sports Breakfast. “And dare I say this about our team…I think we’re always confident, but we’re not cocky.

“And I thought yesterday we had this air of arrogance, maybe cockiness.

“I don’t know if we started to believe our own hype, like this undefeated angle or whatever, but yesterday was a huge lesson in the Premier League.”

The start to the season did have echoes of the 2003/04 ‘Invincibles’ campaign, although that is now a distant dream after the hammering over the weekend.

“Nothing is given to you as champions,” Nicolaou continued. “People are going to come at you week after week after week.

“Every team is going to want to do that to the Arsenal, and I just don’t think that we were prepared.

“And that’s what I was shocked about. We looked a little arrogant. We looked like [we thought] we could go in there maybe and just turn up as champions and get that result. It was uncharacteristic across the board.

“I’m sure Mikel is not going to be happy with that at all…I thought we kind of showed up thinking that we were going to get a result, and I just haven’t seen that from our team in a long time.”

DON’T MISS: Arsenal scouts wowed by Dortmund forward as Berta considers masterclass signing of Havertz clone

Arsenal accused of being found out by Brighton

Meanwhile, Nicolaou praised Brighton for producing a ‘masterclass’ at The Amex Stadium, clearly doing their homework to unsettle the Gunners and Golden Glove-winning goalkeeper David Raya in particular.

“They did their homework,” she reflected. “It was a bit of a masterclass.

“And I also think something that they did that was interesting – that not a lot of teams do against us – is they took shots [from] outside the box [Brighton’s first two goals came from range].

“And if there’s one area of David Raya’s game where maybe he has a little bit of a weak spot, it’s taking those long shots…”

“So I thought the manager [Fabian Hurzeler] did brilliantly prepping for this game.

“Brighton, I thought, played their best game I’ve ever seen them play in the Premier League – definitely against us.”

With a three-week international break now taking over, Arsenal will return to action against on Saturday October 10 when they host Leeds United in the Premier League.

READ NEXT: Arsenal told perfect Max Dowman loan destination after Arteta teases exit – ‘100 per cent I’d take him’