Arsenal’s gritty display in their Champions League opener away at Atalanta has been described as ‘terrible’, ‘abysmal’ and ‘boring’.
That is the view of ex-Tottenham midfielder and talkSPORT co-host Jamie O’Hara, who likened the Gunners‘ performance to ‘watching paint dry’.
Arsenal battled to a 0-0 draw away at Atalanta in their Champions League openerGetty
Mikel Arteta’s men drew 0-0 at the Gewiss Stadium, with David Raya’s incredible penalty double save earning the visitors a share of the spoils – and their fourth clean sheet of the season.
Following Arsenal’s north London derby victory over Spurs, Arteta has now adopted a defensive approach in the club’s last two outings.
And with skipper Martin Odegaard sidelined with an ankle injury, it could be a similar strategy used in Sunday’s clash away at Premier League champions Manchester City.
With Arsenal barely threatening against the Europa League holders on Thursday, Sports Bar presenters Jason Cundy and O’Hara dissected their display.
Kicking off the show, Cundy said: “If I had a pillow right now, I reckon I could just sleep on that floor and just lie down.”
After then pointing out he’s only ‘joking’, O’Hara stated: “No, we’re not joking, it was an awful game, it was terrible.
“Thursday night, we were excited, Champions League football on a Thursday, we were so looking forward to it and Arsenal just give us that.
“I mean come on, it was so dull.”
In response, Cundy remarked: “I’m messing about a little bit, because Arsenal defensively, they are the best side in the country, they are.
“There’s no doubt about it, and they haven’t got Odegaard, [but] they could have got an away goal today, they didn’t even try!
Former Spurs star O’Hara has claimed he was left bored watching Arsenal against Atalanta
Arteta’s side have kept four clean sheets from five games in all competitions this campaignGetty
“They didn’t try to get an away goal, what’s happened to that?”
To which O’Hara remarked: “I don’t know, I just feel like, maybe it’s the new format, they’re thinking, ‘A point away from home is a good point, move on, we’ve got eight games.’”
Defending Arsenal, Cundy then said: “It’s not a bad point, it was a tricky game at Atalanta.
“Arsenal fans don’t care, it’s about getting the result, getting the point and getting yourself over the line.”
But O’Hara wasn’t having it, insisting Gooners will soon grow tired of defensive performances, before saying: “They’re good defensively, but going forward, that was abysmal. It was terrible.”
Again being the Gunners’ champion, Cundy then heaped the ultimate praise on Arteta’s men.
He declared: “Arsenal have got a lovely blend when everyone is fit of being defensively [Jose] Mourinho, there’s a shade of Pep [Guardiola] in there, and a little bit of [Jurgen] Klopp.”
O’Hara was still left seething over Arsenal’s display later in the show, where he stated, ‘It was like watching paint dry,’ before insisting, ‘It was so boring’.
