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"They really annoy me" - Keith Andrews on Arsenal repeating the same shortcomings year after year

Former Ireland and Blackburn Rovers midfielder Keith Andrews feels Arsenal are repeating the same...



"They really annoy me"...
Soccer

"They really annoy me" - Keith Andrews on Arsenal repeating the same shortcomings year after year

Former Ireland and Blackburn Rovers midfielder Keith Andrews feels Arsenal are repeating the same failings year after year.

The Gunners took a 1-0 lead against Manchester City but slipped to a defeat at the Etihad.

It comes days after a similar story against Everton last Tuesday.

They now sit nine points off Premier League leaders Chelsea, who they had beaten 3-0 about a dozen games ago when things looked brighter.

The same question marks from previous campaigns have been raised, namely a soft centre and a lack of leadership on the field.

Speaking on Off The Ball, Andrews spoke of his exasperation with Arsenal as the same problems reared their heads again. 

"It's a broken record isn't it? I just though this year they'd be a little bit more prepared. I know [Shkodran] Mustafi has been injured for the last few weeks and they have missed him," he said.

"I felt in central midfield, they were looking solid and better with Coquelin and Xhaka both holding and then going at the right times. But no, they've just got a soft underbelly. 

"They annoy me. They really annoy me. I've said this time and time again. They're better than that. They've no leaders."

Andrews then touched on manager Arsene Wenger, whose football philosophy he admires, but feels hasn't addressed some of the team's shortcomings effectively in the second half of his 20 years in charge.

"He's been there that long that the team is a mirror image of him. When you've been at a club that long, your team should look like you - and they do," he said. 

"When momentum goes against them in a game, they never react. They can't react. They can't nullify a game the way Chelsea can or Mourinho's teams traditionally can do. They just can't do it or don't want to do it. But first half yesterday, I thought they were doing it."

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