Watford dumped Arsenal out of the FA Cup on Sunday, but Heurelho Gomes was not satisfied as he proceeded to accuse the Gunners of looking like a “small team”, according to ESPN Brasil.
The back-to-back winners lost their quarter-final 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium. Odion Ighalo and Adlene Guedioura goals inflicted a third successive home loss on Arsene Wenger’s side.
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Former Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Gomes sat on the bench as deputy Costel Pantilimon started for Watford, but he saw enough to claim that Arsenal are miles away from winning a title.
“It is the best time to play Arsenal and we came to the match very confident,” he told ESPN Brasil.
“When you see Arsenal playing against big teams, they look like a small team. They don’t look like winning a title soon.
“We knew once we had the ball we’d be able to pass it around since Arsenal gives you too much space. They are not strong defensively.”
Gomes joined Spurs from PSV Eindhoven in 2008, but played only four times in a difficult final three seasons at White Hart Lane. Clearly, though, his North London loyalties still lie with Tottenham.
The Brazilian may have simply been adding insult to injury through his Spurs-tinted glasses, but his words do indicate that the Gunners do not carry the same fear factor that they once did.
And recent results give credibility to those suggestions. Arsenal’s only win in their last seven matches was a 4-0 victory over Championship side Hull City in their FA Cup fifth-round replay.
Arsenal are six points behind Tottenham in the Premier League table, and could be 11 points off the title pace if leaders Leicester City beat Newcastle United at the King Power Stadium tonight.
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