Granit Xhaka reignited the debate about Arsenal’s mental toughness when he said his team had been scared during the second half of the 2-2 draw at Watford.

Arsenal led 2-0 at the interval – courtesy of goals by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – despite an error-strewn display. But they lost their way in the second half after a calamitous defensive mix‑up allowed Tom Cleverley to pull a goal back. Sokratis Papastathopoulos was the Arsenal player chiefly to blame, misplacing a pass when attempting to play out from the back.

Watford’s equaliser came after David Luiz’s latest mistake – the centre-back conceding a penalty, which Roberto Pereyra converted – and Watford, who registered 31 attempts on goal, missed late chances to win it.

Xhaka, the Arsenal captain, was asked what had gone wrong. “That’s a good question,” he said. “At half‑time we went to the dressing room and everything was good. Everyone was happy but we came out and played such a bad second half. You have to say we are happy to take a point.

“We were scared in the second half. We knew they would come at us and push us hard but we have to show more character and not be scared. We have spoken about it. We cannot give a performance like this in the second half.”

Arsenal’s manager Unai Emery would not blame individual players and said: ‘I don’t want to say it is for one player or another. Our work is our responsibility.’ Photograph: Michael Zemanek/BPI/Rex/Shutterstock

Xhaka’s comments were put to Unai Emery, the Arsenal manager, who said: “Maybe it is a very unusual feeling. I think in football you never need to be scared. You need to take that moment as experience for you and for us. We need to be strong in our mentality.

“I prefer to speak about the mistakes relatively. And I have the responsibility for all the decisions we are taking as a team. And individually also, I don’t want to say it is for one player or another. Our work is our responsibility.

“My summary is that we need to work and improve things. Watford pushed and controlled the match with their pressing. Their first goal gave them confidence to do that. When we needed calm and control like in the first half, we couldn’t do it.”