‘It’s tricky, they fly a lot’ – Arteta on Carabao Cup balls

Mikel Arteta, manager of Arsenal, claims his players must first master the “tricky” ball used in the competition before he can still claim that his side can win the Carabao Cup final.

Following goals from Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon in Tuesday’s semi-final first leg, the Gunners were defeated by Newcastle 2-0.

Gabriel Martinelli hit the post and Kai Havertz headed a low shot wide, but only three of those shots were on target.

Arteta said he would not let his players change anything in his post-game press conference, but that he did mention the impact the ball had.

“We kicked a lot of balls over the bar, and it’s tricky that these balls fly a lot so there’s details that we can do better”, he said.

“But at the end that’s gone – there’s no way back, it’s about the next game and that’s our world, the reality is our world.

” It’s just half-time. I have to admit that I have no doubt that we can do it when I watch the team play and how we handle a lot of situations and play against a very strong team.

Prior to the defeat by Newcastle, the Gunners had scored 11 goals in three EFL Cup ties so far this season.

Puma manufactures the ball for the competition, while Nike manufactures the ball for the Premier League.

” It’s just different, “said Arteta when asked to go into more detail about the ball.

You have to adapt to it because it flies differently from a Premier League ball because of that.

The numbers from their previous three ties in this year’s competition do not suggest that the ball has been a big issue for them, despite the fact that Arsenal were made to pay for their poor finishing against the Magpies.

In their opening game, they defeated Bolton 5-1 before falling to Preston 3-3 and Crystal Palace 3-3 to reach the final four.

The Premier League and Champions League are similar in terms of their shooting percentages to the Premier League and Champions League, with Adidas producing the ball for elite club competition in Europe.