Adrian Durham tore into Arsenal after their 22-game unbeaten run came to an end at the weekend.
Unai Emery’s men were beaten 3-2 on Sunday by a spirited Southampton side who showed incredible resolve to claim all three points with just six minutes of normal time remaining.
Emery looks on after defeat is confirmed at St Mary’s
New boss Unai Emery admitted finishing in the Champions League places would be tough for the Gunners after the defeat, but fans have every reason to be optimistic.
Arsenla are just three points off rivals Chelsea in fourth, were drawn against BATE Borisov in the next round of the Europa League and face Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup.
However, talkSPORT’s very own Adrian Durham is not convinced by the Spaniard’s tactical approach and questioned the levels of optimism emanating from the Emirates on Drivetime.
“This is ridiculous,” he told Darren Gough. “There’s one good result in this 22-game unbeaten run and that is the one against Spurs.
Mesut Ozil was unable to have an impact on the game
“One good performance rather- the result against Liverpool is okay, but it is at home.
“But the performance against Spurs – that is the only one that stands out. So let’s give it some perspective.
“It’s a 22-game unbeaten run, but it’s not that impressive? Let’s focus on yesterday’s game and go through a few incidents.
“Leno – not good enough, okay? You can wow about him all you like with the ball at his feet, but he is hopeless.
Bernd Leno was at fault for the winning goal
“Monreal – goes down very easily. What should happen with Monreal is they should look at the two times he went down at least yesterday, virtually under no challenge, and he should be done retrospectively.
“He plays three at the back Emery when he only has two fit centre-halves. What kind of management is that?
“Brings on Ozil to win the game and they lose the game! Don’t bring him on.”
Hector Bellerin limped off at St Mary’s to only further the injury crisis which has thus far plagued the north Londoners.
Rob Holding is out for the season already, while Skodran Mustafi, Sead Kolasinac and Konstantinos Mavropanos have concerns over fitness.
Laurent Koscielny started a Premier League game for the first time this season, after returning from a ruptured Achilles, but often struggled at St Mary’s.
The injury to Holding is something Durham took particular umbrage with, imploring the club to spend in January.
He added: “Injury problems still haunting them, is that still an issue at the football club that has not been resolved?
Rob Holding is out for the season
“Fundamentally, what has happened yesterday is they’ve lost the game for the first time after the 22-match unbeaten run. Rob Holding has got injured and Arsenal and Unai Emery could not cope.
“Now, that is not a great state of affairs to be in and they clearly need some squad strengthening in January.
“But three at the back in the first half, back four second half – does Lacazette start or not? He still does not know.
“How comes Aaron Ramsey doesn’t start games when he has been in fine form? I don’t get that at all.”
Ramsey changed the game against Spurs at the start of the month
While cup success seems to be the most likely route to success, a Europa League tie against BATE is unlikely to exhilarate fans at this stage of the season.
And Durham believes the changing of the time for the first leg at the Emirates is a futile move by the club, taking aim at the fans this time.
“And let’s have a look at the 22-match unbeaten run because it is a bit of a ‘so-what’ right,” he continued.
“The net result of a 22-game unbeaten run for Arsenal is this; they’re fifth in the table, 11 points behind the leaders Liverpool and they’ve kept pace with Celtic in the Europa League. That’s what the 22-game unbeaten run has brought.
“So it’s not that impressive. Talking about the Europa League, there’s another point about Arsenal.
“They’ve got this tie against BATE Borisov and it was originally down as a five o’clock kick-off. Arsenal complained, so they’ve moved it back to 5.55pm.
“Why did they complain? Because they said fans wouldn’t be able to go. Fans don’t go to their Europa League games anyway do they?
“They don’t go! I mean the seats are going to be empty – you can call it 59,000 seats sold, but they will be empty.”
This story was originally published by talkSPORT
via USAHint.com
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