Arsenal play ‘ugly’ football and are ‘annoying’ to watch, Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel explosively claimed after their 1-0 defeat by Liverpool.
Dominik Szoboszlai’s sensational free-kick seven minutes from time proved the difference at Anfield in a contest in which chances were few and far between.
Mikel Arteta’s side mustered up just one attempt on target, coming from Noni Madueke midway through the first half, and they were reluctant to go for the jugular against their title rivals despite the game balancing on a knife-edge.
Pundits including Jamie Carragher and Roy Keane questioned Arteta’s approach, the latter going as far as describing the Gunners as too ‘robotic’.
However, Schmeichel, a hero at Old Trafford between 1991 and 1999, reserved particularly scathing criticism, revealing he was desperate for Liverpool to win.
Speaking post-match on Viaplay, he said: ‘I have never in my life, ever, wanted a team to win a game of football more than Liverpool today.
‘Arsenal bring an ugly brand of football to our game. Arteta… let your team play football! Let them loose, let them be free!
‘I am absolutely convinced that if Arteta does this, they will win more games.’
Schmeichel was similarly unimpressed with the visitors’ conservative display at the half-time break, adding: ‘You need two teams to give a good game of football and there is only one team trying to play football, and that’s Liverpool.
‘I don’t want to insult Arsenal but their brand of football is so annoying to watch. It’s designed to exploit opponents while watching for set pieces.’
Despite the big-money arrivals of Viktor Gyokeres, Madueke and Eberechi Eze, Sky Sports pundit Carragher does not believe Arsenal have improved offensively.
‘You bring [Martin] Zubimendi in, Eze’s come in. It’s only three games but the two away games that we’ve seen Arsenal this season, nothing has changed,’ he said.
‘[They are] Heavily reliant on set-pieces, don’t create anything in open play and are the best team in Europe for me defensively.’
Manchester United great Keane also says Arteta would be wise to afford his players more creative freedom. He said: ‘I think when they’ve got the defensive record that they have and they’re great at set-pieces, we’ve got to give Arsenal credit for that.
‘If you’re just dependent on that all the time, and you come to Liverpool away.
‘It’s hard to score at Liverpool. Do something a little bit different.
‘[Declan] Rice taking corners, they’re taking ages. You’re looking at Arsenal, do something off the cuff. Do something quickly. There was rushing towards the end when they were chasing a goal. Going forward they’re a bit robotic.
‘You have to find something else.’
However, Arteta was quick to defend his players, insisting the only difference between his side and the reigning champions was cutting edge.
‘You have to put the ball in the back of the net when you have it,’ said Arteta. ‘We were much better than last year when we drew the game. Much, much better.
‘No difference. And today, when we had three, four, five situations inside the box, 1v1, when [Eberechi Eze] is completely through, just to finish the action. We have to put those balls in the back of the net if you want to win the game.’
Arteta also stressed it was ‘impossible’ to dominate with the ball against an opponent capable of winning games through moments of magic, like Szoboszlai’s free-kick.
‘Well, I am very disappointed with the result but very proud of my players,’ he added. ‘I think both teams took the game to a level where there were no margins between the two and little happens.
‘A lot of action in many areas, not much in the boxes. And it was going to be decided in one of two actions: an individual error or a magic moment, and it was decided a magic moment.
‘You cannot dominate here 95 minutes. It is impossible and you’re going to go through those moments. You’re going to go through some moments where our keeper had the ball in his hands and we didn’t have a sequence afterwards.
‘But we navigated the game without conceding anything but, in the end again, you need to find a way to win these big matches and a lot of times, it’s individual magic moments that decide them. That was the case with an unbelievable free kick.’
