^ ^ Wayne Rooney makes Arsenal title claim and responds to Mikel Arteta criticism

Former Man Utd and England captain Wayne Rooney (Picture: Getty)

Wayne Rooney has defended Arsenal over the ‘unfair’ criticism they have received while they bid to win the Premier League.

Despite moving seven points clear at the top of the Premier League, Arsenal have attracted criticism from some pundits and fans.

Last week former Premier League manager Alan Pardew claimed Arsenal’s likely title win would ‘come with an asterisk’ given their style of play.

Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler, meanwhile, accused Arsenal of ‘making their own rules’ and claimed Mikel Arteta’s side were not even ‘trying to play football’ during their 1-0 win at the Amex Stadium.

But former Manchester United and England captain Rooney cannot understand the criticism of Arsenal and insists he ‘enjoys’ watching the Gunners.

Speaking on his BBC podcast, Rooney said: ‘I’ve heard a lot of people talking about Arsenal and the way they’re playing but I think they’ve been brilliant.

‘Football is played in different ways. Man City have had spells when they were absolutely incredible, the same for my Man United team.

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Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta (Picture: Getty)

‘But Arsenal have got a good mix, they’ve got different players who score goals, they’re hard to play against, they keep clean sheets. I actually enjoy watching them play.

‘The set-pieces are part of football – why would you not use it? They put bodies in the box, if teams aren’t clever enough or haven’t got the players to deal with it, why wouldn’t Arsenal continue to do that?

‘I would be doing it even more if I was Mikel Arteta. It’s part of the game and I love it – they don’t have to change anything.

Criticism of Arsenal

ALAN PARDEW

‘When I’m looking at them with my football manager’s head on, they’re so professional,’ Pardew said on talkSPORT. ‘They do every bit of gamesmanship to get it over the line.

‘But really and truly, Brighton, although they have definitely upped the tempo and looked better second half, they’ve not really hurt Arsenal.

‘And at the moment it looks like Arsenal are going to see it through. There’ll be an asterisk next to their name because you’ve only got to look at them really in these type of performances and say it’s just a functional display.

‘It’s a professional, functional display. They’re good, they’re strong, they’re powerful. But there is nothing beautiful about them. That’s the truth.’

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FABIAN HURZELER

‘I will never be the kind of manager who tries to win in that way,’ Hurzeler said after Brighton’s defeat to Arsenal.

‘If I ask everyone in the room, did he really enjoy this game? I’m sure maybe one raises his arm because he’s a big Arsenal fan.

‘Where will this go in the future? Is this what the supporters are paying for?’

‘They maybe haven’t scored as many goals from open play as they would like but they’ve made up for it in other ways.

‘The last league title we won, we wasn’t great as a team, but nobody is talking about that now. I don’t think Arsenal have been as bad as people are saying, I really don’t.

‘I’m not saying this because I like Arsenal, I’m saying this because I think the criticism they’re received is very unfair.’

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While Rooney leaped to the defence of Arsenal and Arteta, he insisted they are not home and hosed in the Premier League title race.

The Gunners lead second-placed Manchester City by seven points but Pep Guardiola’s side do have a game in hand and a home match against Arsenal to close the gap.

‘I don’t think the Premier League is out of reach for Man City yet,’ Rooney added. ‘They’re well within the title race.’

Arsenal produced another somewhat underwhelming performance on Saturday, beating League One strugglers Mansfield Town 2-1 in the FA Cup.

The Gunners’ next Premier League fixture is a home match against Everton on Saturday. A win would put the Gunners ten points clear ahead of Manchester City’s game against West Ham later in the day.

Before that Arsenal will look to maintain their incredible Champions League momentum when they travel to Germany on Wednesday to face Bayer Leverkusen in the first leg of their last-16 tie.

Arteta’s side finished a flawless group stage campaign with eight wins from eight and a goal difference of plus 19.

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^ ^ Micah Richards backs Premier League club to win Champions League

Ex-Manchester City and England defender Micah Richards (Picture: Getty)

Micah Richards believes the Champions a League trophy will be heading back to a Premier League club this season.

The six English clubs that qualified for the Champions League are all still in with a chance of winning Europe’s premier club competition.

Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea and Manchester City all finished in the top-eight of the league phase, advancing straight into the knockout stages.

Newcastle United joined them domestic rivals in the last-16 with an emphatic play-off win over Qarabag.

Premier League leaders Arsenal, who topped the Champions League group phase, face German side Bayer Leverkusen for a place in the quarter-finals.

Their title rivals Manchester City, meanwhile, take on Real Madrid, the most successful team in European football history, in a blockbuster showdown.

Club World Cup holders Chelsea meet the Champions League holders PSG while reigning Premier League champions Liverpool face Turkish giants Galatasaray.

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The Champions League trophy is up for grabs (Picture: Getty)

Newcastle will look to cause an upset against La Liga leaders Barcelona while Premier League relegation-battlers Tottenham face Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid.

Arsenal have yet to win the Champions League but Richards believes that will be rectified by Mikel Arteta’s side over the next two months.

Discussing Arsenal, who are still in all four competitions, Richards said on The Rest is Football podcast: ‘All I would say – and I don’t want to be the negative one – is they haven’t won anything just yet.

Champions League last-16 draw

Galatasaray vs Liverpool

Newcastle United vs Barcelona

Atletico Madrid vs Tottenham

Atalanta vs Bayern Munich

Bayer Leverkusen vs Arsenal

PSG vs Chelsea

Bodo-Glimt vs Sporting

Real Madrid vs Manchester City

‘In terms of results they’ve been pretty faultless but in terms of style of play, they score a lot of set-pieces and own goals. I don’t think it’s wrong for people to pick that out but I also don’t think it’s right for people to be negative and say Arsenal don’t play good football.

‘The objective at the end of the season is to win the league, who cares how you get over the line?

‘They’re top of the Premier League and I think Arsenal are the favourites for the Champions League because I think it will suit them more than the domestic games.

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Walcott isn’t having any Arsenal slander 👀 There have been lots of negative comments about the Gunners’ playing style in the Premier League, but Arsenal legend Theo Walcott has shut them down, saying his former side have just managed to find a way of being better than their opposition. #walcott #arsenal #premierleague #mikelarteta #footballfans

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‘In the Champions League the games might get a little bit more stretched whereas in the Premier League everyone is going to that low block against them.

‘I thought Man City would have the capabilities to break teams down more than Arsenal in the Premier League but it’s not working out like that.

‘Arsenal are getting some criticism but if they win the league, who cares how they do it? The objective is to win trophies and it’s as simple as that.’

Arsenal are still in all four competitions (Picture: Getty)

Former England star Joe Cole has also backed Arsenal to lift the Champions League trophy despite some unconvincing performances in the Premier League.

The Gunners drew two league games in a row last month before sealing narrow wins over Chelsea and Brighton. Arsenal progressed in the FA Cup on Saturday but only beat League One strugglers Mansfield Town by one goal.

Arteta’s side appear to be in the weaker half of the Champions League draw and Cole believes that gives Arsenal the edge to win the competition for the first time.

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‘Every team that has won it for the last ten years is on one side: Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, so it has opened up for Arsenal,’ he said on The Dressing Room Podcast.

‘I think, personally, it’s going to be an Arsenal versus Manchester City final. I think it will be an epic.

‘I look at it, my only bet would be Arsenal going to the final. I’m not sure on the other side, with Manchester City you still don’t know because there’s too many good teams.

‘Arsenal get to the final. They’re going to beat Bayer Leverkusen, they ain’t no cop [good], Sporting or Bodo/Glimt…

‘In summery, the Champions League draw, they’ve opened it up, someone has rolled it across the goal for Arsenal. They cannot blow it… or can they?

‘Arsenal fans, book your tickets for Budapest, in my opinion.’

After travelling to Germany on Wednesday to face Bayer Leverkusen in the first leg of their last-16 Champions League tie, Arsenal return to Premier League action at the weekend against Everton.

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^ ^ Patrice Evra blasts Man Utd legend over ‘unnecessary’ Michael Carrick comment

Manchester United legend Patrice Evra (Picture: Getty)

Patrice Evra has criticised fellow Manchester United legend Paul Scholes over an ‘unnecessary’ comment he made about caretaker manager Michael Carrick.

Carrick enjoyed a fantastic start to his time in charge of United, winning seven of his first eight games and taking the Red Devils back into the Champions League places.

Carrick’s tenure hit its first stumbling block last week as Manchester United were beaten by ten-man Newcastle United at St James’ Park.

Following that setback Scholes appeared to take a swipe at Carrick, who has emerged as the favourite for the Manchester United job since Ruben Amorim was sacked in January.

Taking to Instagram, Scholes said: ‘Michael has definitely got something special about him… cos Utd have been crap last 4 games… night.’

Scholes later deleted the post but Evra was nevertheless disappointed by his former teammate over his ‘unnecessary’ dig.

‘I hope Paul Scholes’ Instagram story is fake, I hope he was hacked,’ Evra told Stake. ‘To be honest, I’m not surprised at that from Scholesy.

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Man Utd lost 2-1 to Newcastle at St James’ Park (Picture: Getty)

‘He was the quietest player I’ve ever played with in my entire career. Now, in the media, he drops bombshells.

‘I really don’t understand the lack of support behind Michael Carrick, he’s one of us and he’s doing very well. There’s been negative analysis from Scholesy, but also from Roy Keane and Gary Neville.

‘It annoys me because we want to be in the top four, and those comments are unnecessary, but this is what you do when you work in TV. You can’t be positive, you have to be negative.

Paul Scholes took a swipe at Michael Carrick (Picture: Instagram)

‘Michael Carrick’s record is seven games, one draw and one loss. That’s the situation right now.

‘Now Manchester United need to win their next game so they don’t let that noise get to them, from the outside and from ex-players.

‘Carrick is the man of the moment and has done really well. We should be behind him and support him.’

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Manchester United have suprised everyone 😱 Under Michael Carrick, Manchester United remain unbeaten and have climbed to third in the Premier League. This is the kind of form fans have been craving for years so now the real question is: is it a bigger risk NOT to give Carrick the permanent job? #carrick #PremierLeague #manchesterunited #footballnews #manunited

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Turning his attentions to Gary Neville, who has repeatedly suggested Manchester United should overlook Carrick, Evra added: ‘Most of these guys get a managerial job and get fired straightaway.

‘I said to Neville: “It’s easy to talk on TV. When you were at Valencia, they asked you for paella, and you gave them fish and chips.” After three months, they said goodbye.

‘People can’t forget what they have done as a manager. As players, they’re legends, but as managers, they haven’t done a great job.

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‘So for them to speak and possibly kill the career of a manager, it’s a little bit too much.’

Premier League record goalscorer Alan Shearer, meanwhile, says he was ‘surprised’ by Scholes taking aim at Manchester United caretaker boss Carrick.

‘Did Paul Scholes say something along the lines of United being really poor in some games? I mean, they might have been poor, but they’ve been getting the results,’ Shearer told Betfair.

‘I guess when you play like that the other night, and they didn’t play well, you’re going to get criticised.

‘I don’t know if there’s a friendship between Scholes and Carrick, I guess when they’ve been former teammates and guys who have been fighting together on the pitch then it probably is a bit surprising that an ex-teammate would say that against you.

‘But, we know how the world works now, I don’t suspect that would upset Michael that much.’

Manchester United will look to return to winning ways next Sunday when top-four rivals Aston Villa visit Old Trafford.

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