Jamie O’Hara has claimed on talkSPORT that only Arsenal players Kieran Tierney and Emile Smith Rowe are fit to wear the club’s shirt.
What’s the story?
The Gunners were dispatched by Brentford 2-0 in their opening Premier League game of the season.
Goals from Sergi Canos and Christian Norgaard were enough for the top-flight new boys.
It sparked a mass inquest of Mikel Arteta’s side, with Ian Wright furious with the inability to match the Bees’ intensity.
The former Tottenham Hotspur ace dissected the display and lashed out at numerous members of the team.
But he picked out Tierney and Smith Rowe as the only hopes for the current squad.
When talking about the Gunners, O’Hara said: “There are two players in that team that deserve to wear an Arsenal shirt. That was Kieran Tierney and Smith Rowe.
“The rest of them do not deserve to be wearing an Arsenal shirt – they are miles off it. No desire, no leaders. I’ve never seen an Arsenal team with such a lack of leadership qualities, it was embarrassing.”
Tierney and Smith Rowe are the only hopes
Friday night was embarrassing for the north Londoners.
The lack of fight and passion in the majority of the team was stark. It seems this campaign will be long and drawn out for anyone associated with the club.
However, in Smith Rowe and Tierney, there are two very small rays of hope.
As ever, the young attacker was a thorn in the side of opposition defences. His fearless dribbling and final pass was the only threat the Gunners carried.
Meanwhile, the 24-year-old Scotsman was one of the only players to provide movement off the ball. His runs down the left-flank allowed him to get in behind the Bees’ defence time and again.
But his crosses into the box rarely threatened and highlighted the need for a number nine this summer.
Relying on two players when in disarray is a bad position to be in for Arteta.
In hindsight, O’Hara is right in that most Arsenal players do not deserve to wear the shirt, in what is a sad state of affairs.
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