Arsenal legend Lee DIxon has blasted the Gunners’ performance in their 2-2 draw with Watford in the Premier League on Sunday.
Unai Emery’s side looked to be a in a great position at half time, holding a 2-0 lead thanks to a brace from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
However, everything seemed to change at the break and Watford came out to dominate the second half, with goals from Tom Cleverley and Roberto Pereyra leveling things up.
The Hornets had numerous other chances in the second period and Abdoulaye Doucoure had a wonderful chance to score a winner as the clock ticked down.
Gunners captain Granit Xhaka admitted that his team were happy to take a point in the end, and said Arsenal were ‘scared’ in the second half.
Dixon, who made over 600 appearances for Arsenal, has slammed the performance at Vicarage Road for a range of reasons.
The former full-back tweeted: ‘The worst performance without the ball for a very long time. No accountability what so ever. Game management zero. Game understanding zero. Responsibility to others zero. Very very poor.’
The worst performance without the ball for a very long time. No accountability what so ever. Game management zero. Game understanding zero. Responsibility to others zero. Very very poor
— Lee Dixon (@LeeDixon2) September 15, 2019
Watford had 31 shots during the game, the most Arsenal have ever seen taken at them during a Premier League game.
The Gunners seemed to be far too devoted to their plan of passing it out from the back from goal kicks, an insistence which led to Watford’s first goal.
A poor effort at a pass from Sokratis Papastathopoulos in his own penalty box was intercepted by Cleverley who slotted past Bernd Leno.
Sky Sports pundit Tim Cahill questioned the tactic, saying: ‘There were warnings from the goal-kicks, playing one-twos on the edge of the box and losing possession, how many times do you want to do it?’
Emery attempted to dismiss this criticism by saying that his side tried a different tactic, but that wasn’t working either.
‘We were also trying the long ball and physically they are more strong than us and they were also winning the long ball,’ Emery told Sky Sports.
MORE: Granit Xhaka says his Arsenal team-mates were ‘scared’ during draw with Watford
MORE: Arsenal were ‘like a semi-professional team’ in draw with Watford, says Graeme Souness
