Earlier in the week, Carver had reacted angrily to comments from former Manchester United and Everton man Phil Neville that Newcastle "had their flip-flops on" during last weekend's 3-0 loss at Goodison Park.
Newcastle were well below par in that reverse on Merseyside but demonstrated great fight after falling 2-0 down against Arsenal.
Moussa Sissoko halved the deficit in the 48th minute and Newcastle were unfortunate not to find a leveller, with a string of saves from David Ospina preserving victory for Arsenal.
And Carver said: "People said we had our flip-flops on but if you saw our second-half performance that's not the case. I'll keep driving the players on.
"They want to keep working and keep having a go. The criticism was a bit surprising because it came from an ex-player, and they know what we have to go through, but we certainly weren't on the beach today."
