Roy Keane slams Arsenal for their ‘rubbish’ first-half performance against Nottingham Forest

Roy Keane and Ian Wright have blasted Arsenal’s ‘rubbish’ first half performance against Nottingham Forest, with the Manchester United insisting that Mikel Arteta’s side looked like a ‘pub team’ in the FA Cup.

The Gunners were unable to muster a single shot on target during a lacklustre 45 minutes of football in the East Midlands, with the likes of Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli failing to have an influence. 

Their Championship rivals were, however, lacking the verve to punish the visitors with a baying City Ground hoping for a Cup upset on Sunday night.

Ian Wright and Roy Keane have blasted Arsenal’s ‘rubbish’ first half display against Forest

Arsenal wore a unique all-white kit for the third round clash as part of a campaign to combat knife-crime across the country, and ITV pundit Keane said that the Gunners ‘look like Real Madrid but play like a pub team’ in a stinging rebuke of their display.  

‘It’s been rubbish from both teams and you have to be critical of both teams,’ he said.

‘Obviously Forest are at home, you’re thinking “come on get on the front foot, get balls into the box, get bodies in there”. 

‘Arsenal, for all of their quality, they look like Real Madrid but they are playing like a pub team, it’s been so poor. Pace of pass, decision making, passing it behind people. Really… rubbish’.

The Gunners put in a lacklustre first 45 minutes in their FA Cup third round clash on Sunday

Former Man United star Keane said that ‘Arsenal look like Real Madrid but play like a pub team’

Arsenal legend Wright concurred with his colleague, admitting that his old side were ‘very average’ during an underwhelming opening 45 minutes.

‘Very average, it’s an opportunity for Nottingham Forest if they can show a little bit more quality in the final third,’ he said. 

‘Arsenal are not at it at the moment, they are waiting for Bukayo Saka to do something but it’s not happening.’

The pair also lambasted Nuno Tavares’s attitude after the Portuguese full-back was withdrawn during the first half as Arteta was less than impressed with the former Benfica star’s showing.

Arsenal legend Ian Wright also blasted Nuno Tavares’s disrespectful attitude during the game

‘He started very poorly with this bad backpass, and with this one you look at his reaction,’ Wright said. ‘He is coming off, he’s throwing his gloves down, I think this is the wrong manager to do this with. 

‘The disrespect the is showing at the minute is something Mikel Arteta won’t like, he shouldn’t be acting like that with the performance he put in.’

Keane added: ‘Why is he upset? He must know, he is in front of the dugout, he was sloppy in everything he has done. 

‘Okay, a player can make a mistake, but that sloppiness, a lot of that is down to his attitude, the way he started the game. And you cant start a game like that, you get dragged off.’