Jamie Carragher ‘flabbergasted’ by Arsenal ‘shambles’ in Tottenham defeat

Son Heung-min and Harry Kane scored to inflict defeat on the Gunners

Jack Rathborn
Tuesday 08 December 2020 09:59 GMT
Comments
Carragher has criticised Arsenal for their performance against Tottenham
Carragher has criticised Arsenal for their performance against Tottenham (Sky Sports)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Jamie Carragher admits he was left “flabbergasted” by the “shambles” he witnessed in Arsenal’s performance to lose the north London derby against Tottenham.

The Gunners went down 2-0 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, though Mikel Arteta was encouraged by parts of his side’s display, despite failing to create chances.

But Carragher has dismissed the idea that the Gunners can take any positives despite enjoying long spells of possession, with the former Liverpool defender adamant the visitors were “poor”.

ANALYSIS: How is Mikel Arteta actually trying to solve Arsenal’s attacking crisis? 

“Arsenal did not play well. Arsenal were awful, defensively and with the ball, from minute one,” Carragher said on Sky Sports. “This idea that because you have possession, you've played well - I'm flabbergasted when I hear it.

“They never had one chance in the game where someone should have scored. I've just seen a Mourinho quote saying possession is for the poets or the philosophers. He's absolutely spot-on if there's nothing with the possession.

“I thought tactically, Arsenal were a shambles, so poor. What I couldn't believe and what was so frustrating watching it was that this has happened so often in Mourinho's managerial career.

READ MORE: Mikel Arteta says he learned from ‘really special’ Jose Mourinho

“Even if you had only watched Tottenham this season, you would know what they were going to try to do. It's almost like this Arsenal team and Mikel Arteta had been transported into this game from the moon and they didn't know who Mourinho was and had never seen Tottenham play.

“I was flabbergasted. What I watched and some of the things I heard after the game, I thought they were so poor.”

Next up for Arsenal is Dundalk in the Europa League, before an opportunity to get right at home to Burnley on Sunday in the Premier League.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in