Roy Keane has insisted that Arsenal sat back and played like a Championship team in the second half against Manchester City on Sunday.
John Stones scored a 98th-minute equaliser to deny Arsenal the three points and earn a point for the home side from a 2-2 draw at the Etihad.
Arsenal have come under criticism for some of the cynical means they employed against Manchester City after going down to ten men at the stroke of half-time.
Their use of David Raya to waste time or catch a breather for their players has been noticed and Stones admitted that his side were expecting Arsenal to employ the dark arts.
The Gunners are now coming under fire for being too negative in the second despite the caveat of being down to ten men against the reigning champions.
Roy Keane slams Arsenal for playing like a Championship team against Manchester City
The former Manchester United captain insisted that older managers would have been termed dinosaurs if any of their teams played like the way Arsenal did in the second half at the Etihad.
He stressed that he doesn’t mind teams defending deep to get a result but he was disappointed that Arsenal didn’t even try to do anything when they won the ball from Manchester City.
The Irishman feels that the way Arsenal played in the second half it seemed like a Championship team were trying to hang in against a top side in the FA Cup.
“If Tony Pulis, Sam Allardyce, Steve Bruce or Neil Warnock set a team up like that in the second half, they are dinosaurs”, Keane said on The Overlap.
“Arsenal do it and oh, they are brilliant and concentration levels!
“I don’t mind defending but when they win the ball back now and again, try and look after it; try and get up the pitch.
“There were a couple of instances where they just kicked it out of play or up the pitch.
“This is Arsenal we are talking about, we are not talking about a Championship team in the FA Cup who are trying to hang in there.
“Remember they got a clean sheet there last year so they have got results there.
“Nothing wrong with defending or going deep but when they got it, try and do something.”
Mikel Arteta has brushed aside criticism of his tactics as he looks to push his team to challenge Manchester City for the Premier League title again this season.
