Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta didn't mince his words when reviewing his team's 2-1 loss at Fulham on New Year's Eve.
The Gunners had the chance to end 2023 at the top of the Premier League table if they were able to defeat the Cottagers, who entered Sunday's match on the back of three straight losses.
Instead, Arsenal will go into 2024 in fourth place of the hotly-contested title race, and they could drop to fifth before their next league match on Jan. 20.
The North London side looked lethargic throughout the match, despite a fifth-minute goal by Bukayo Saka that provided an early lead for the visitors. Instead of protecting their advantage, Arsenal allowed Fulham to capitalise on two defensive errors and claim all three points, giving the Gunners their second straight loss and extending their winless streak to three matches.
Yet despite a familiar result, Arteta was clear in his assessment that Sunday's performance was not only the worst of the festive fixtures for his side, but the worst of the entire campaign so far.
"We weren't good enough," Arteta told Sky Sports. "We lost three days ago when we deserved to win, but today we were nowhere near that level.
"We conceded two very similar goals, giving the ball away. Defensively we were second best.
"We had a great performance against Liverpool, against West Ham, this is the one you have to isolate as it is our worst performance of the season."