Alan Shearer slammed the Arsenal players for their abject performance against West Brom on Saturday, stating that they’re not playing for Arsene Wenger.
The Gunners fell to a 3-1 defeat at the Hawthorns to leave their hopes of finishing in the top four in real danger as they slipped to their fifth loss in their last seven games.
While Wenger continues to face the brunt of the criticism and anger from supporters, Shearer looked at the players on Saturday and believes that none of them aside from Alexis Sanchez gave their all and didn’t look as though they were out there to play for their manager.
“There has been a lot of chat about Arsene Wenger’s future,” Shearer said on Match of the Day, as quoted by The Mirror. “There hasn’t been a lot spoken from his players. But his players spoke today in that game.
“Judging by that performance and other recent performances, they don’t want him in that job.
“Arsene Wenger would have looked at his players today and asked for a reaction. They lacked heart, they lacked fight, they lacked direction. Every player other than [Alexis] Sanchez was pretty embarrassing.
“West Brom bullied Arsenal all over the park. They were much better in every position and deserve a lot of credit for doing that.”
Arsenal sit in fifth place in the standings, five points adrift of Liverpool who play Manchester City on Sunday, albeit Jurgen Klopp’s side have already played a game more.
The Gunners could find themselves in sixth if Manchester United defeat Middlesbrough, and with the ongoing uncertainty over Wenger’s future with his contract set to expire this summer, the atmosphere at the club has certainly become toxic.
Nevertheless, Shearer isn’t the first pundit to slam the players this weekend, with both Arsenal legend Thierry Henry and Jamie Redknapp also blaming them for the club’s current predicament during Sky Sports coverage of the game as the players certainly have to accept a share of the responsibility for the club’s plight this season too.