SKY SPORTS pundit Graeme Souness has criticised Arsenal before their match with Chelsea and has branded them as a ‘nearly team.’
The former Liverpool star ripped into Arsene Wenger’s men and has questioned their mental strength as well as their passion.
Arsenal were shocked at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday evening to Watford, losing 2-1, which left them trailing leaders Chelsea by nine points.
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Souness said before their clash at Stamford Bridge: “For the last 10 years there’s a lot to like about Arsenal, but they’ve shown an underbelly that is soft, they get rolled over by teams you’re not expecting them to get rolled over.
“I just see more of the same, they’re a nearly team, they must win today.”
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The dropped points against the Hornets left a familiar feeling for Gunners fans, who have seen their side drop points when they should have been getting results.
In the back-to-back matches away to Everton and Manchester City they led 1-0, but they crumbled in the second half in both games and eventually lost 2-1.
A stalemate at the Emirates to lowly Middlesbrough at home in October proved to be frustrating, and were embarrassed at the Vitality Stadium against Bournemouth when they found themselves 3-0 down.
However credit to Wenger‘s men, they fought back to snatch a point, but it was a case of once again dropping points in the title race.
Souness added: “Déjà vu, I’ve said this for years, they need 2 or 3 men that when the going gets truth they drag the lesser lights through.
“They’ve got a history of being rolled over, I can remember last year Arsene Wenger continuing to talk about the mental strength of his players and there’s one game that sticks in my mind from last year.
“They went to Man Utd and played a young United team, they went there with a full-strength team against a young Man Utd team and got beat 3-2, if ever there was a game to put a marker down that was it.
“I don’t see anything different with the team this year.”
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