Thierry tunes out 'unwatchable' effort

Arsenal's shocking performance in its 4-0 Premier League loss at Liverpool on Sunday was slammed by the club's former greats, with all-time top scorer Thierry Henry describing the team as "unwatchable".

Arsene Wenger's side was 2-0 down at the break and could have lost be an even bigger margin if it had not been for goalkeeper Petr Cech.

Henry, now working as an analyst for Sky Sports, said he had turned his studio seat around at one moment during the game.

"It was unwatchable, at one point I wanted to leave. I don't relate to the team and I don't think a lot of the fans do. That is a problem," said the Frenchman, who scored 228 goals for the north London club.

"It's painful. It's how they lose. It's always the same. You have seen it before. Everything you see reminds me of what has happened for the last 10 years," said Henry, who won two Premier League titles with the club.

Former Arsenal fullback Lee Dixon, now working for US television network NBC, said it was the worst performance from the club he had witnessed since retiring in 2002.

"That was abject. Every one of them should be given a train ticket and be made to go home with the fans. That was embarrassing. I was embarrassed to do commentary up there," he said.

"The shape was all wrong, we were outnumbered in midfield, the tactics from Arsene were wrong, the players didn't give it their all. Every single part of their game was off.

"If their star players don't perform, they're bang average," he said.

Gunners stopper Cech questioned his teammates' commitment.

"It was unacceptable for a club of our size. OK, you can come and lose a match 4-0 if you have a bad day, when you are fighting but are unlucky, but not like how it happened today," said the Czech.

"We were not fighting, not winning any individual battles, and we completely failed to respond to their way of playing.

"This is the most disappointing thing. The only positive out of the game is that we have time to respond because it is early in the season.

"I don't think it can get any worse than this."

Reuters

(China Daily 08/29/2017 page24)