Aston Villa handed Arsenal their first league defeat of 2024 on Sunday – with most of Gunners’ players failing to live up to the high standards which they’ve set this season
Paul Merson has slammed Ben White and Kai Havertz for their roles in Arsenal’s crushing 2-0 defeat at home to Aston Villa.
The Gunners slipped up in the Premier League title race on Sunday by losing their first top-flight game since New Year’s Eve. Late goals from Villa duo Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins did the damage against Mikel Arteta’s side, and Merson took aim at two players who had a much worse afternoons.
On punditry duty for Sky Sports, the former Arsenal midfielder firstly slammed Havertz for his efforts in the build-up to Bailey’s 84th-minute opener and then criticised White for pulling out of a tackle midway through the second half. “You’ve got to stop that cross!” Merson bemoaned when watching a replay of Havertz’s attempt at defending.
“There was a time when Ben White jumped out of a tackle before coming off. You’ve got to stop these things. These chances come around not too many chances in a lifetime of winning the league and you’ve got to get out there and stop that.
“Ben White is jumping out of a tackle, he’s a defender jumping out. You don’t get these chances. You go home tonight and think that’s gone. For me it’s gone. You’ve worked that hard for 32 games to go that extra yard, just one yard to stop that cross. It’s lazy. [The title] is 100 per cent gone.”
Mere minutes after White avoided that challenge, the Gunners right-back was subbed off in place of Takehiro Tomiyasu. The change didn’t help Arsenal stabilise, though, as they conceded twice in the final six minutes of normal time.
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Merson is adamant that the Gunners can no longer win the title, having fallen two points behind reigning champions Manchester City with just six games to play. “They’re chasing the best team in the world, The best team who have done it year in year out,” he went on to say.
“It’s not like we’re sitting here thinking, ‘I wonder how Man City will be this season with the rest of the games’. They will reel them off. They’ll keep playing and playing and wiping teams away. If it was someone else they were chasing down, every chance. I’ve seen this team too many times, they’re bang out of luck Arsenal. They’re chasing one of the best teams ever to play football.”
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Olivia Martin is a dedicated sports journalist based in the UK. With a passion for various athletic disciplines, she covers everything from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis.
