Roberto De Zerbi was disappointed Albion finished the year with defeat to the Premier League leaders, but was not unhappy with their performance in the 4-2 defeat to Arsenal.
Second-half goals from Kaoru Mitoma and Evan Ferguson – his first in the league – got Albion back into the game but the Gunners were clinical in front of goal as they opened up a seven-point lead at the top.
De Zerbi said, “It was a strange game. We suffered four goals in a strange way and at crucial moments, especially the first and last goals but I think we played a good game against a fantastic team.
“Football is like this. You can attack, attack, attack but if you suffer four goals against you it is very difficult to achieve a result.
“I’m sorry for the result but not for the quality of our play, our attitude, and our bravery. We closed the game with a lot of very young players, but I can’t say nothing bad of them or the performance. But we know Arsenal’s quality, they have fantastic players and a fantastic coach.
“You can lose to Arsenal but you can choose the way you lose. I thought our fans were fantastic, they watched a team with the right mentality and playing the right way.”
"There were some mistakes by us, and we were a bit unlucky to but I can’t say too much that is bad about the performance. Now we have to think about another game against Everton."