Arteta wants Arsenal to be 'more chaotic' after narrow Hull City win

Mikel Arteta has called on Arsenal to adopt a more "chaotic" attacking approach against deep defences, even after his side secured a 1-0 win over Hull City. Martin Odegaard's close-range finish in the 72nd minute settled a contest that had offered few clear chances, and the result extended Arsenal's lead at the top of the Premier League to six points.

A narrow win and a record start

Odegaard's goal broke Hull's stubborn resistance on Saturday. Manchester City's surprise defeat to Nottingham Forest helped Arsenal's advantage grow. The victory also matched the club's best-ever start to a league campaign, with nine wins from their opening ten fixtures. Across all competitions this season, Arsenal have now won eight matches by a single goal.

Trying to score the perfect goal

Arteta, however, remains frustrated by his side's lack of ruthlessness. He said the team needed to be "more efficient, sometimes even more pragmatic", pointing to two one-on-one situations with the keeper, a possible penalty, and several shots that were deflected or blocked. "Sometimes my feeling is that we are trying to score a perfect goal against these low blocks," he said. "We need to be much more chaotic than that." He also suggested the team should open the scoreline much earlier, as that would change the course of the game.

Arteta acknowledged that his side did not finish their chances well enough to win by a bigger margin. "We had enough chances to make the scoreline much bigger," he said. Relying on sustained pressure, he explained, was how they ultimately broke Hull down, by insisting until the breakthrough came.

VAR questions

Arteta also spoke about a first-half VAR check involving Kai Havertz. Referee Farai Hallam went to the pitchside monitor after Nobel Mendy pulled the forward's shirt, but awarded Hull a free kick for offside instead. Arteta said he had not watched the incident back, and was surprised, as analyst Ben Chadwick had told him it looked like a clear penalty. He had since heard the decision was based on Havertz's starting position, and said he did not understand the interpretation, though he expected it to be explained.

Time to refine the final third

With the international break approaching, Arteta will have time to work on his team's attacking patterns. Arsenal sit comfortably at the summit, but the manager's stated wish for earlier breakthroughs points to a clear aim of killing off games more efficiently.