LONDON -- Arsene Wenger says he held a "clear the air" meeting with his players after Arsenal's loss to Manchester United, and insists the team is ready to move on from that disappointing defeat.
Arsenal lost 3-1 at the Emirates after gifting United two goals in the opening 11 minutes, but were widely praised for the way they played after that as only a string of good saves from David de Gea denied them a comeback.
While the loss was a massive blow in the fight for a top-four spot, Wenger said the team analysed the defeat "very objectively" and have already put it behind them.
"You clear the air straight away. When you have a defeat like that, a disappointment like that, you try to analyse it straight away with the players, to get it out of their system and focus on what is in front of you," Wenger said ahead of Sunday's trip to Southampton.
"In our job there is always in the next game that you can show that you have digested and focused on what's in front of you."
The United loss saw a return of the type of sloppy mistakes Arsenal had largely cut out in recent games -- especially at home -- as both Laurent Koscielny and Shkodran Mustafi gave the ball away inside their own half in the lead-up to the first two goals.
Arsenal laid siege to United's goal after that and pulled a goal back through Alexandre Lacazette, but couldn't find an equaliser before the visitors netted a third.
"We had a very strong creative performance with a high, high number of expected goals. And we had a poor defensive performance," Wenger said. "I felt it took our players time to get into the game.
"We played on Wednesday night against Huddersfield, and it took them a while to adjust to the pace of the game. And they have a power up front, and they surprised us a little bit with their pace. After that, I think we played remarkably going forward but as well, didn't take enough of our chances, so weren't clinical enough."
Asked if his players had a different view of what went wrong, Wenger quipped: "Everybody has a little bit their own analysis. But mine counts."
Arsenal found their stride against United when Mustafi went off injured and Wenger reverted to a more attack-minded back-four formation -- the kind he played for 20 years before switching to a back three late last season. The Frenchman then started with a back four in the Europa League win over BATE Borisov on Thursday, but wouldn't say if the more familiar system is back for good.
"It's my preferred system, four at the back. But I adjust always to what suits the players best, the quality of the players, the balance of the team," he said. "I changed against Man United, because we were 2-0 down and put an offensive player on because we had to come back. But it can change."