Former Manchester United and England striker Wayne Rooney believes that the amount of young players at Arsenal could hurt them in their race for a top four finish this season. It comes after the Gunners were given a blow in their chances by Crystal Palace, losing 3-0 at Selhurst Park on Monday.
Goals from Jean-Philippe Mateta, Jordan Ayew and Wilfried Zaha sealed the win for Patrick Vieira facing his old club, summing up a game that Mikel Arteta’s men never got going in. The defeat keeps them in fifth, level with North London rivals Tottenham on points but with a game in hand still to come.
Discussing the performance of his team, Arteta told the media that his side were “sloppy”. “We weren’t at the races today especially in the first half," he said. "We were late to every ball, we were soft in the duels and we didn’t earn the right to play. When we did a little bit we were sloppy on the ball and we didn’t have any dominance, any sequences of play where we could take some control of the game and we conceded two poor goals.”
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The Spaniard will be looking for his team to respond when they face Brighton in their next Premier League fixture on Saturday. However, with Manchester United, Chelsea, West Ham and Spurs all to come before the end of the season, it is set to be a tough run.
One thing that Arteta has been praised for this season though, is how he is doing with his young squad. However, this is something that former striker Rooney believes could cost them in their bid for Champions League qualification.
Speaking on Sky Sports after the game, he said: “Yeah it [the defeat] can be damaging but I’m sure Mikel Arteta will be working now on the reaction and making sure they put this game to the back of the mind. They’ve got a lot of important games coming up and they’re in pole position still but I just think that they have so many young players that it might hurt them and I think Tottenham are a little bit more experienced and that might help Tottenham get over the line.”
It would be another devastating blow to Arsenal if they were to finish below their rivals once again this season, having enjoyed a better season this time round. However, there is still plenty of football left to be played this campaign, including the North London derby, which may prove to be the deciding factor.
