This is worth watching for the reaction of Thierry Henry and Graeme Souness.
Arsenal’s performance against Liverpool on Sunday was humiliating. The Gunners lost 4-0 at Anfield, putting in a display lacking any tactical nous or intensity. They were caught on the counter attack several times by Jurgen Klopp’s side, with Mo Salah’s goal to make it 3-0 coming just 12 seconds after Arsenal had taken a corner of their own.
It’s difficult to fathom how one of the best-paid football teams in the Premier League could concede such a goal.
This will really hit home with a lot of Arsenal fans https://t.co/9VSGynSdUN
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) August 28, 2017
However, the performance, the result and the talking points in the aftermath of Sunday’s match will be familiar to all football fans. We’ve been here time and again with Arsenal, and nothing ever changes.
On Sky Sports’ coverage following the match, Jamie Carragher, Thierry Henry and Graeme Souness had different reactions to Arsenal’s latest collapse. Henry is an Arsenal legend, the club’s record goal scorer and he has a statue outside the Emirates, so he was understandably despondent when analysing the game. Souness was weary, and said he has now “officially given up on Arsenal.” While Carragher was very animated.
The former Liverpool defender tore strips off the players, the manager and the owners, and said there is a “lack of ruthlessness” throughout the club.
“If I’m being honest, the board bottled the decision over this summer,” Carragher said, referring to Arsenal’s decision to give Wenger a new two-year contract.
“They were terrified of moving the manager on, who has been a legend and a great success there. There had to be a change. There had to be! And then the summer comes, and there’s all this, ‘maybe things will be different’. I think (Ivan) Gazidis said, ‘a catalyst for change’ – that’s worse!”
Carragher's reaction was brilliant https://t.co/4nGfaL8nqt
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) August 27, 2017
Carragher then took aim at the players. Following Arsenal’s 3-0 defeat to Crystal Palace in April, Carragher called the Arsenal players “cowards”. On Sunday, the Sky Sports pundit doubled down on the claim.
“Last season, I called them ‘cowards’. And afterwards maybe I got a little bit of criticism, maybe that’s a bit too strong and you can’t say that on live TV, but I’ll say it again – cowards. That was worse than what I saw at Crystal Palace last year.”
You can see both Henry and Souness react when Carragher called Arsenal “cowards” again. Henry looked surprised, before shifting in his chair and awkwardly fixing his suit jacket. Souness gave a look to the presenter which suggested even he wouldn’t go that far.
Here’s another look:
The former England defender reckons nothing will change at the club as long as Wenger is manager, and that although it would be a shame if he left, Arsenal need to be ruthless.
“I love Arsene Wenger, but that’s what I’m going to say again, not ruthless enough… Get used to it for the next two years… That’s the type of performance that gets the manager the sack, (but) those performances got the manager a two-year contract.”
You can watch Carragher’s analysis of Arsenal here:
