Roy Keane calls Arsenal weak, soft and lacking leaders after Olympiacos loss

Former Manchester United captain Roy Keane has launched another stinging attack on Arsenal, describing them as “weak,” “soft” and “lacking winners.”

The Gunners are staring at elimination from the Champions League group stages after losing both of their opening two matches. Arsenal went down 2-1 to Dynamo Zagreb in their first game before losing 3-2 at home to Olympiacos on Tuesday night.

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Keane, working as a pundit for ITV, said:

“Listen, they’re soft – Arsenal are soft.

“They’re weak. The goals they give away, you’ve got no chance of winning any big game if you defend like that.

“I think there’s certainly a weakness to the group, they look like they lack characters, leaders and winners.

“I enjoy watching Arsenal, I think they’re great to watch, particularly going forward. But part of football is, unfortunately, is defending. And mentally, they’re weak.”

Arsenal will now turn their attentions back to the Premier League before the first of a doubleheader against Bayern Munich in Europe later this month. They host table-topping Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.

Defender Gabriel has urged his teammates to remain calm ahead of the clash:

“It was a complicated night against Olympiacos. We were in a good place in the first half, defending well, we were happy. But the three goals were our own fault.

“We only have ourselves to blame for conceding them and now we have to rest, work harder and then on Sunday come back and have a good game.

“We just need to be calm. We have to work hard and focus on putting in a good performance against Manchester United.

“I am sad that we lost an important game at home. But we can still qualify. We have a very strong team, with some very good players. We now have to try to win the remaining matches in the group.”