Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has hit back at leading Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville over his comments about the Gunners during their dismal 3-0 Carabao Cup final defeat last weekend.
The former Manchester United defender blasted Wenger’s players for their disastrous showing at Wembley, labelling them “spineless,” and “patethic.”
Neville also lambasted the Gunners midfield for ”walking,” around the pitch once they went 2-0 down.
However, Wenger his back at these statements today and claimed his team do have the necessary stomach needed to fight.
“You could find that [walking] on both sides,”
“You can always get out pictures from a game that justifies what you think. You find in every single game, on both sides, moments where a player doesn’t track.
“You have to analyse why. Has he made two runs before to go in behind and was exhausted, or did he not track because he didn’t want to? That is different.
“Of course, the players gave me everything. I am long enough in the game to know that when you lose a big game, people always say that the players don’t want it enough. Did we lose the game because of that? I am not convinced. When there is a big difference like 3-0 you always get that impression. For me, it is not the main reason.
“We got to the final and you don’t get there by coincidence. You have to fight to get there and we did. We didn’t play against a poor team in the semi-final, we played against Chelsea and we have shown that we can fight.
“We have to live with the criticism, it’s part of the modern game. People who comment – their job is to comment, so you have to live with that. What is important is how we respond.” he said.
This latest horror show against Pep Guardiola’s side has lead to increased calls from fans for the Gunners board to end Wenger’s 22 reign at the club.
Arsenal currently lie in sixth place in the Premier League 10 points behind their North London Rivals Spurs in fourth. It now seems their only realistic chance of finishing in the top four will be to win the Europa League.
