Martin Keown
Martin Keown says Arsenal’s players need someone to ‘punch them in the face’ to wake them up after their dismal display saw them concede an injury-time equaliser against Slavia Prague in the Europa League.
The Gunners took the lead in their Europa League quarter-final first leg at the Emirates thanks to Nicolas Pepe’s finish in the 86th minute, but Tomas Holes levelled at the death to give the Czech side a vital away goal.
Mikel Arteta’s side were wasteful and missed chances to put themselves out of sight earlier in the game, before a poor piece of defending from a corner saw them relinquish their lead.
Former Arsenal defender Keown laid into the Gunners for their cagey approach in the first half before they improved after the break.
The pundit claimed it was as if the players needed to be woken up in order to start playing.
“For me it was about Arsenal tonight and the way they played. By sitting off they chose the wrong tactics,” Keown told BT Sport.
“There was an opportunity to take the initiative and ask questions, can you play? But they were allowed to settle and build from the back.
“In the first-half it became nervy and they weren’t the team we saw just a few weeks ago against West Ham for instance. It seems like Arsenal are not proactive in games, they need someone to slap them or punch them in the face before they wake up and start to play.
“He (Arteta) did it in the second-half with the substitutions but they couldn’t see it through,” Keown stated.
Keown added that Arteta is finding it difficult to get a reaction from the players, before criticising the sloppy mistakes which led to Slavia’s equaliser.
“(The result is) hugely disappointing, it’s going to be difficult now for Arteta. He’s made a lot of changes within the club, a lot of people have been allowed to go,” he added.