Roy Keane holds nothing back in most savage rant yet with 'small team' and 'dinosaur' dig at Arsenal and Mikel Arteta
Roy Keane holds nothing back in most savage rant yet with 'small team' and 'dinosaur' dig at Arsenal and Mikel Arteta
Roy Keane has launched into a savage criticism of Arsenal and manager Mikel Arteta after their 2-2 draw against Manchester City.
The Gunners held a 2-1 lead for most of the second half, only conceding it when John Stones scored a dramatic 98th-minute equaliser.
It was a backs-to-the-wall display from Arteta's side, who were down to 10 players for the entire half after Leandro Trossard was shown a second yellow card for kicking the ball away.
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With that defensive display came allegations of time wasting, with some fans not happy at the tactics that Arsenal used in order to wind down the clock.
"CITY ARE OUT OF JAIL!" 🤯
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) September 22, 2024
John Stones gets Manchester City's equaliser with mere seconds left to play! 💥 pic.twitter.com/owIr7jjkJn
Keane also wasn't happy with the way in which the Gunners approached the second half - and made his feelings clear.
Speaking on The Overlap's Stick to Football, Keane exclaimed: "How bad were Arsenal? Oh my God.
"Can I tell you something? The way Arsenal set up on Sunday for the second half, if Tony Pulis, Sam Allardyce, Steve Bruce, Neil Warnock set a team up like that for the second half, they're 'dinosaurs'.
"Arsenal set up, and I mean nothing wrong with defending, I'm on about them when they did get the ball. A couple of times they were just booting it out of play.
"But Arsenal do it, it's like, 'Oh, brilliant. Concentration levels'.
"I don't mind defending, but I'm saying when they did win the ball, when they won it back every now and again, try and look after it, try and get up the pitch.
"There were a couple of incidents where, I think it was Ben White, it just bounced and he kicked it out of play.
"And Declan Rice. A couple of them just kicked it up the pitch. This is Arsenal we're talking about. I'm not talking about a Championship team that's gone in the FA Cup, where they're just hanging in there.
"Remember, they got a clean sheet there last year, so they have got results there Wrighty.
"There's nothing wrong with defending and going deep, no problem.
"But when they got it, you go, 'Can you try and do something?' They were just booting it up the pitch!"
He later continued: "I'm not even bothered about one up front. I'm on about when you've got it, still look after it. Even the extra man up front.
"But when you do get it, try and get four, five, six passes [together]. They were just booting it like a small team with a small mentality."
Roy Keane was speaking on The Overlap's Stick to Football, brought to you by Sky Bet.
Topics: Roy Keane, Football, Arsenal, Manchester City, Ian Wright, Fan Reactions
Ryan Smart