ROY KEANE furiously labelled Arsenal a “small club with a small mentality” as he slammed their tactics in the 2-2 draw with Manchester City.
Mikel Arteta‘s men led 2-1 when they were reduced to 10 men at the end of the first half at the Etihad on Sunday as Leandro Trossard received a second yellow card for kicking the ball away.
YouTube / Stick to FootballRoy Keane slammed Arsenal’s tactics against Manchester City as Ian Wright defended his former club[/caption]
Arsenal spent almost all of the second half in their own box
After the break, the Gunners then retreated into their own half and had just 12.5 per cent of the ball.
Jurrien Timber and Kai Havertz also failed to complete a single pass in the match, making them the first outfield players since records began to play 89 minutes of a Premier League match and not register a successful pass.
Ultimately, Arsenal came up short with their low block as John Stones salvaged a point for the champions deep into stoppage time.
And Manchester United icon Keane, 53, was furious with how the North London side played as he vented at Gunners legend Ian Wright.
Speaking on Stick to Football, brought to you by SkyBet, he said: “If Tony Pulis, Sam Allardyce, Steve Bruce or Neil Warnock set up a team like that for the second half, they are ‘dinosaurs’. When Arsenal do it, it’s called ‘brilliant’, it’s ‘concentration levels’.
“When they won the ball back, which they did every now and again, try and look after it and try and get up the pitch.
“There was an incident when [Ben] White just kicked it out of play, [Declan] Rice a couple of times, just kicked it up the pitch.
“This is Arsenal we’re talking about – not a Championship team in the FA Cup – that’s hanging in there.”
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He then went on to add: “I’m on about when you’ve got it [the ball], still look after it.
“Don’t even worry about playing one up front, but when you do get it try and get four, five, six passes.
“They were just booting it like a small team with a small mentality.
“When I see England international players just booting it out of play I’m going ‘What are you? League One? League Two?’”
Keane’s criticism of Arsenal comes after his former team-mate Paul Scholes admitted Arteta’s side have “disappointed” him so far this season.
He said: “Arsenal, at some point, have got to beat them [Manchester City at the Etihad]. They nearly did it, and it was a great effort.
“I sat here at the start of the season and thought Arsenal might win the league, but I’ve been a little bit disappointed with their start to the season.
“Arsenal have been poor going forward this season.
“You look at all the goals they scored last year, and everyone was talking about getting a centre forward in the summer and you thought they probably didn’t need it.
“But five or six games in, it feels like Arsenal are struggling – it’s not quite clicking.”