Arsenal capitulation in Watford on Super Sunday was just like watching a’semi-pro’ team, states Graeme Souness.
Following being 2-0 up via a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang double, Arsenal hauled the points away through two mistakes. First, Sokratis Papastathopoulos attempted to play only to Tom Cleverley to capitalise and halve the deficit, until David Luiz gave away a penalty which Roberto Pereyra converted.
Arsenal have conceded seven goals in their past three games and Souness didn’t return from the Sky Sports studio in his assessment of the Gunners.
«They capitulated in the second halfof Arsenal. They didn’t win a struggle. If you are an Arsenal supporter watching that, you should be scratching your head. It has two teams that are unique. It’s like here’s a second one after half-time, and the team at the first half. Proper teams don’t play like that.
«Arsenal in that second half were just like a semi-professional team playing football. By that I mean that they weren’t learning from the mistakes they had been doing the time and time again.»
Specifically, Souness questioned why Unai Emery brought on Reiss Nelson and Joe Willock when major.
«They bring about a few kids, that was a game where at 2-1 it was time to dig and regroup, make sure they didn’t lose the game, and they should’ve lost it. When the children arrived they had been all over the area, it was just like a sport of basketball and if you were still an Arsenal fan, which could profoundly, profoundly fear you.»
The first goal came from Papastathopoulos’ central pass out of defence from a Bernd Leno goal kick, and something found more this year.
However, Souness said Arsenal should have gone after a warning sign in the first halfof the
«There are older players in this type of defence. As a manager, you hope your larger players, it doesn’t need to be the ones, operate out it that they are likely to concede.
«Why did the big players never say’let’s just go long with it for 10 minutes and see where it takes us’, since persisting with it was likely to cost themand they’re blessed it only cost them one.»
One of Arsenal players around the afternoon, Granit Xhaka admitted Arsenal were’scared’ from the second half,» however, said playing out from the trunk was among many issues, not the sole issue.
«Everything was wrong [in the second half]we did not play our game, we were fearful , we understand they’d push us in the second half but we have to show more character and play, and not be scared. You can’t provide a performance.
«We train for short goal kicks, obviously mistakes are here but it is not an excuse. Next time we must do much better, we have to analyse and then we’ll see what happens. It wasn’t only this situation that was an issue – it had been the entire second half»
Back at the studio, Souness responded to Xhaka’s meeting by asking:’How do Arsenal be scared?’
«They’re saying that they were scared – I’ve never been frightened in a game of football in my own life. I just don’t understand it. From the game program Watford dropped .
«It’s simple to play when no one’s coming after you, in your face. I could have played from the first half in that Arsenal team of the But the thing affects when Watford are let off the guide, you are confronted and they did not stand up to it.
«Sometimes you’ve got to have a hat on for a single kind of game, and yet another hat for yet a different. Arsenal proved today they can only play one way – they can not go to war»
Speaking after the game to Sky Sports, Arsenal manager Emery said the ball from goal strikes would have caused his side to lose the battle that was physical in midfield, also admits his side must learn from their mistakes.
«Attempting the long ballthey are stronger than us, and they were winning that chunk. We wanted to break the line and join with Mesut [Ozil], just like we did with the second aim.
«It had been two different halves. In the first we commanded the game we wanted, at the second they pushed for our errors, and we’d more than we wanted to do. We need to think how we could do better.
«We can develop all the mistakes and find out for the future games. Knowing they’d do more, and at the second half we needed to do the work, although we said which 2-0 isn’t enough. They did this, and the lines couldn’t split.
«I keep with our way of functioning. We will need to enhance, take some advice from this game. We could be disappointed, but we know about that.»
Arsenal go to Eintracht Frankfurt in their first Europa League group stage clash on Thursday at 5.55pm, before hosting Aston Villa at the Premier League on Sunday at 4.30pm.
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