Ian Wright points finger over Arsenal tactic in PSG loss – ‘Very surprised’

Arsenal have it all to do if they are to make the Champions League final following their loss against PSG and Ian Wright has questioned one aspect of the Gunners’ performance

Ian Wright admits he is surprised that Arsenal did not immediately try to suffocate Paris Saint-Germain from the off in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final tie, which the French giants won 1-0.

PSG will have a slender advantage when Mikel Arteta‘s men travel to Paris next week in pursuit of a place in the Champions League final. Ousmane Dembele plundered the game’s only goal at The Emirates inside the opening four minutes.

Luis Enrique‘s side have won plenty of hearts during the campaign for their swashbuckling throwback style and are fancied by many to go on and win the tournament.

But even in spite of PSG’s ferocious attacking approach and star-studded squad, Wright is disappointed that Arsenal didn’t try and take the game to their opponents.

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Speaking on the Wrighty’s House podcast, the Gunners favourite said: “I don’t want to be negative about the team but I’m very surprised by the start of the game. I wasn’t expecting that start. To be honest I was expecting PSG to back off but it was the other way around, it was the opposite. We should have been pressing them but it didn’t happen. That’s the disappointing thing, without being too negative.

“I think we really missed a trick in the way we started, we didn’t take advantage of the crowd who were ready to scream and shout. I think we got away with out really because we didn’t start like I thought we would, I was very surprised by that.

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“I would love to hear Mikel Arteta’s post-match interview because I want to hear what he says about the start. I cannot fathom that you have a team like PSG come to your place and your tactics are to sit off them and let them play it out from the back and ease across the halfway line.”

Although they will head to France needing to overturn a deficit in the second leg, Arsenal are still very much in the tie. But Arteta admitted post-match that the Gunners will ‘have to do something special’ if they are to make the Champions League final for just the second time in the club’s history.

“If you want to win the Champions League final, you have to do something special. We’re going to have to do something special in Paris to be there,” Arteta said.

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