I was just watching the Champions League highlights again and while a lot of Arsenal fans, the players, the manager and most of the pundits on BT sport and in the papers yesterday were encouraged by the way the Gunners beat Dinamo Zagreb, our chances of making it into the next stage were given short shrift by Roy Keane on ITV.
The former Manchester United and Ireland midfielder cast doubt on the character within the Arsenal dressing room once again and he gave another specific reason for his belief that Arsenal will come up short against Olympiacos in Athens. When pushed on whether Mathieu Flamini would be able to capably replace the injured Francis Coquelin he was pretty unequivocal.
Keane all but dismissed the ability of Flamini and he suggested that the reason was that the Frenchman does not have the heart for the fight, especially away from home. Now I know that Flamini is not the best player in the Arsenal squad but he is one of the most committed and I imagine he would be fuming to hear this criticism.
To be honest I would love for Arsene Wenger to make sure that Flamini knows exactly what Keane has said about him to spur him on all the more to prove the Irishman wrong. That goes for the whole team of course but doubly so for the man who bore the brunt of Keane’s cutting comments.
Arsenal have produced some great away performances in Europe when our backs were to the wall. Can we do it again and make it count this time?