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Wenger, Arsenal ‘cowards’ slammed after Palace loss

Newspapers, pundits and former players poured fresh scorn on Arsenal and their besieged manager Arsene Wenger on Tuesday following Monday's dismal 3-0 defeat at Crystal Palace.

Arsenal’s German midfielder Mesut Ozil (R) reacts to their defeat on the pitch after the English Premier League football match between Crystal Palace and Arsenal at Selhurst Park in south London on April 10, 2017.<br />Crystal Palace won the game 3-0. / AFP PHOTO / Glyn KIRK / 

Newspapers, pundits and former players poured fresh scorn on Arsenal and their besieged manager Arsene Wenger on Tuesday following Monday’s dismal 3-0 defeat at Crystal Palace.

“They bottle it, they’re cowards, they duck out of challenges,” was the scathing verdict of former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher on Sky Sports.

“The best description of the players was two years ago from Graeme Souness, who said they are a team of son-in-laws. But what father would want his daughter to bring one of them home?”

It was Arsenal’s fourth successive away defeat in the Premier League and left them seven points off the Champions League places with a game in hand.

Furious away fans taunted Arsenal’s misfiring players with chants of “You’re not fit to wear the shirt!” and barracked Wenger and his squad as they boarded the team bus after the match.

The back-page headline in The Times, a riff on Palace’s nickname, read: “Eagles 3 Butterflies 0.”

The Daily Telegraph said the result at Selhurst Park represented “humiliation”, while The Sun asked of Wenger: “How can he stay after Selhurst shambles?”

Several newspapers said Arsenal had reached “a new low”.

Wenger, 67, is reported to have been offered a two-year contract extension by Arsenal, but has yet to reveal what he intends to do.

He once again batted away questions about his future after the game, saying he was “not in the mood” to discuss it.

Arsenal great Ian Wright claimed on Twitter that the nature of Arsenal’s latest capitulation showed “that dressing room is lost”.

Carragher delivered a withering assessment of Arsenal’s players, labelling the recent performances of star duo Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez “nothing short of embarrassing”.

Former Arsenal striker John Hartson said the defeat against Palace showed Wenger had lost the magic touch that brought him three Premier League titles and four FA Cups in his first nine years at the club.

“I just think now it’s time for him to go,” Hartson told BBC Radio 5 Live. “It hurts me to say that because I like Arsene Wenger.

“Last night (Monday), you would call that performance inept. There was a lack of leadership, lack of togetherness. The players are playing as individuals. They don’t look like a team.”

4 Comments

  • Author’s gravatar

    They are not a team to be proud of at all. They are a BIG disgrace

  • Author’s gravatar

    Time for Wenger to gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

  • Author’s gravatar

    REPENT FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS AT HAND.

    JESUS LOVES YOU. GIVE HIM YOUR HEART TODAY AND LET HIM BE
    YOUR SAVOIR AND GOVERNOR. WORSHIP WITH US THIS SUNDAY AT ANY DEEPER LIFE BIBLE
    CHURCH NEAREST TO YOU

    DEEPER LIFE NATIONAL EASTER RETREAT HOLDS THIS THURSDAY 13TH
    TO SUNDAY 16TH APRIL, 2017 WORLDWIDE. BE THERE AND BE BLESS

  • Author’s gravatar

    They are a big shame. He should have sold out Ozil and Alexis and avoid keeping unsettled players in his team. Much as we blame Wenger for the inept performance, there is need to question the commitment of the players. That O’zil could not differentiate between the Arsenal yellow shirts from the Eagles Blues ones in giving away the ball to Crystal Palace players show and tells a lot about whether he is still with Arsenal. It was a shame; a catastrophe; Nonsense, disaster. U could call it anything but a performance from a team of united players.