Former Arsenal ace Charlie Nicholas believes that manager Arsene Wenger should take most of the blame for the Gunners crashing out of the Champions League to AS Monaco, reports the Daily Express.
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The Sky Sports pundit thinks that the 65-year-old should be criticised for the North London club’s poor defending in the first leg and was at fault for their inability to turn up on the big stage. In recent years the side have lost a number of high profile matches.
The team has made a habit of going out of the Champions League at the last 16 stage after disappointing defeats in the first leg of the ties. It was no different here, with a 1-3 loss at the Emirates proving too much to recover from despite a 2-0 win in the away fixture.
Nicholas said: “Once again these players have turned up when the pressure was off them because they can just go for it. They need to start turning up when the pressure is on them. That’s why they don’t win big football matches domestically and that’s why they get put out against Monaco.
“I think the manager should get the brunt of it but not all of it. They’ve got all the class and all the ability compared to anyone else. They are probably the second-best team behind Barcelona when it’s fluent like this but why do they always have an Achilles heel like defending when it is the basic concept of the game?”