Robin van Persie will demand the right response from his team when they return to action next month.
Arsenal slipped to a heavy defeat at Manchester United on Sunday but the timing of the season's first international break means they must wait until September 10 before resuming their Premier League campaign against Swansea City.
Van Persie expects a major improvement at Emirates Stadium. "We need to come back," the captain told Arsenal Player. "We have Swansea in two weeks, which is a good opponent and I look forward to that.
"This was the strongest team we had today. We gave our maximum but it was clearly not good enough.
"I don't think we can hide behind injuries or suspensions. It is no excuse. They had injuries too, this is football."
Skipper Van Persie was also full of praise for the travelling Arsenal fans, who sung their hearts out at Old Trafford.
"The fans were great," he said. "That is one really positive thing. They were cheering us up all game for 90 minutes. We really appreciate that.
"Sometimes you see fans leaving early but I did not see that. When we went to the fans to thank them after the game, it looked like every seat was still full.
"That was a good feeling. I love that. It really cheered us up."
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