The former Manchester United legend, Roy Keane has reprimanded the Gunners after their Champions League defeat against Barcelona at the second leg of the round-of-16 match at the Nou Camp.
The Irishman has gone on record to say that Arsenal are a mentally weak side and the club’s recent performances in various competitions have seen them deceiving their own set of fans.
The Gunners crashed out the Champions League on a 5-1 aggregate as the North London club slumped to a 3-1 defeat at the hands of the Catalan side as the attacking trinity of Lionel Messi, Neymar Junior and Luis Suarez scored a goal each.
In an interview, given to ITV, Roy Keane told the press, “It tells you that they’ve got a weak group of players, who can’t seem to lift it for certain games. No doubt the pressure has got to them in the last few months and for players at Arsenal Football Club who can’t deal with pressure, then you shouldn’t be there.”
The Gunners have been inconsistent this season as they are currently languishing at the number three spot 11 points behind the league leaders, Leicester City. However, the Gunners have played a match less than the Foxes in the league, but that really shouldn’t make much of a difference with eight more game-weeks to go.
Speaking about Arsenal’s outing at the Nou Camp on Wednesday, the ex-Red Devils footballer said, “Tonight the damage was already obviously done in the first game. There’s no great shame in losing 3-1 tonight, the effort was there- but I think Barcelona had switched off- but it must be hard for the manager to stomach that, and for the supporters when they see their players lift it for certain games, but they can’t do it for Watford at home, or Swansea at home.”
“They’re cheating the supporters in that sense,” he further added.
Although Arsene Wenger praised his team’s performance against a formidable Barcelona side, Keane is of a different opinion. He believes that there is a lack of mental strength throughout the entire side.
“We keep going back and talking about Arsenal, again they seem to have a lack of characters there. You’re left asking, where are the leaders in the group to get a grip of these players when in certain games they don’t seem up for it. When I played against Arsenal they always had a strong spine to their team. Now looking at this team you’d always fancy your chances because there seems to be a weakness running through, maybe the whole club,” the former Aston Villa assistant manager concluded.
