Arsenal players were afraid to take chances and express themselves during Thursday night's 2-1 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion, according to interim manager Freddie Ljungberg.
The Gunners slipped to 10th in the Premier League after losing at the Emirates Stadium. In the process, a squad short on confidence continued on a winless run now stretching to nine games across all competitions.
Ljungberg identified fear as a root cause for Arsenal's latest setback:
Sam DeanLjungberg: "They [the players] look very short of confidence. In the first half they were scared to get the ball, scared to move.