Dion Dublin told Match of the Day on BBC One that Hector Bellerin and Mohamed Elneny were ‘still talking’ to each other seconds before Arsenal conceded to Southampton in the FA Cup on Saturday.
Initially, it was Elneny who lost the ball on Arsenal’s right-hand side, in the defensive third, as he tried to find Bellerin with a pass when being pressured by Southampton players.
When the home team regained possession, they switched the ball towards the right side, with Kyle Walker-Peters’ cross eventually resulting in Gabriel putting the ball into the back of the net.
Former Aston Villa striker Dublin noticed both Bellerin and Elneny bickering away at each other after the latter lost the ball, which then resulted in them losing concentration of where the opposition players were inside the penalty area.
“There is a misunderstanding between Elneny and Bellerin [about losing possession of the ball on the right-hand side],” said Dublin. “If you look there [as the ball is being played across to the right wing], they are still talking about it.
“They are chatting about something that has already gone. They don’t know who is around them. They don’t know where the Southampton players are.
“Low and behold, they get a chance to put the ball into the box [seconds later] and there are three players behind Bellerin. Two in the box. There are enough players there for Arsenal to deal with that situation.
“But they are thinking about something else. And that was the skipper! You cannot do that.”
Well, when you don’t succeed the first time then you try again and Arsenal will get that very same chance on Tuesday night.
After being dumped out of the FA Cup by the Saints, Mikel Arteta’s men will have a second shot at revenge, but this time in the Premier League.
The Gunners are sitting in 11th place, one point behind and one place below Southampton, who can really pile on the misery for Arsenal in what has been a miserable campaign for their supporters.
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