Arsenal legend blasts Wenger's under-performing Gunners after Champions League defeat

Charlie Nicholas believes Arsene Wenger's side should take full responsibility for their defeat

ARSENAL legend Charlie Nicholas believes Arsene Wenger's under-performing players should take full responsibility for their defeat to Dinamo Zagreb on Wednesday.

 

An Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain own goal and a second-half Junior Fernandes header resulted in a 2-1 defeat as the Gunners started their Champions League campaign. 

To make matters worse, Olivier Giroud was given his marching orders in the first half after receiving two yellow cards. 

Wenger made six changes to the side that defeated Stoke last weekend, however former striker Nicholas was not convinced by performances from Giroud, David Ospina, Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Debuchy. 

 

"It was really, really poor," he told Sky Sports.

"There were six changes and although that's a bit over the top for me, I still think it should have been enough to get a win, never mind a point.

"After 20 minutes I thought it was going nice and easy, but then I started to worry around that period of the game when Arteta and Santi Cazorla slowed it down and a leisurely, horrible slowness crept into their play. All of a sudden they were punished.

 

Arsene Wenger made six changes to the team that beat Stoke in the Premier League last weekend

"There's nobody left to blame but themselves. For the first goal, Debuchy pushed in too deep when he didn't need to and Oxlade-Chamberlain switched off. The second goal was an absolute shocker in the second half.

"Maybe six changes is a bit over the top and people think Wenger is arrogant or is taking it easier than he should, but these players have got so much trust and belief from their manager.

"Every time they fail the manager will get caned because of the changes he made. 

"Some of these players don't turn up when they are given an opportunity, so why should he trust them as much as he does?

"They are responsible at the end of the day for their performance. It's not tactics, commitment or anything like that. You are a better player than them, so perform - and they don't perform."