Glenn Hoddle slams Arsenal star for his reaction to Wolves draw | Football

Glenn Hoddle slammed Arsenal captain Bukayo Saka’s reaction to the disappointing Premier League draw with Wolves.

Arsenal blew a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with Premier League basement boys Wolves, who had just nine points from 26 games before the game.

Saka, captaining the Gunners in the absence of the injured Martin Odegaard, fired Arsenal ahead inside five minutes with a glancing header from Declan Rice’s cross.

Despite not being anywhere near their best, Arsenal doubled their lead after half-time through Piero Hincapie and looked to be cruising towards another win.

Three points would have taken Arsenal seven clear of second-placed Manchester City but Wolves produced an unlikely comeback.

Hugo Bueno gave the relegation-doomed side hope with a superb strike on the hour mark before Tom Edozie’s injury-time strike earned Wolves just their 10th point of the season.

Saka faced up to the media after Arsenal’s desperately disappointing draw, admitting the Arsenal dressing room was ‘very flat’.

‘It’s very flat,’ he told Sky Sports. ‘I’m very disappointed with the result and especially how we played in the second half, it’s far from the level that we’ve set this season.

‘It’s time for us to reflect on the few performances and just fix the issues immediately so we can get back to winning games and going on a run and build momentum because we’ve lost that a bit right now.’

Asked whether he and his teammates were ‘feeling the pressure’ as Arsenal chase a first Premier League title in 22 years, Saka added: ‘No, I don’t think about all of that.

‘I just think we need to just get back to our level, just do the basics right. And we’ve got more than enough quality in this team to win games, especially the games where we’ve been dropping points recently.

‘We just need to fix that and that’s all our focus is right now.’

Arsenal legend Martin Keown said he ‘couldn’t disagree with anything’ Saka said during his post-match interview.

‘I can’t disagree with anything that he’s saying but what he’s also saying is they’re not giving up,’ Keown said on Premier League Productions.

‘I think he will be giving more in his next performances because they have to stand up.’

But Tottenham legend Hoddle criticised Saka’s interview, saying: ‘That’s interesting, that, because he was the skipper tonight.

‘For me, he was very honest, very honest there saying they need to do better… blah blah blah. But his demeanour for me wasn’t right.

‘Your demeanour needs to be a little bit more up, he was very flat, very flat.’

Discussing the game as a whole and Arsenal’s wobbling title charge, Hoddle added: ‘I look at Arsenal against Brentford and Wolves and I just feel they’re starting to doubt themselves.

‘A few months ago they weren’t doing that, they were authoritative and were saying, “we’re Arsenal and we’re going to win the title”.

‘But they’re doubting themselves and now they’re under pressure and it’s all about the mentality, they need to be strong and together to come again.

‘It’s not a crossroads for Arsenal but they need to start again, go again. They’ve got to go again but there’s a doubt in their minds now, there’s definitely a doubt and they’ve got a huge couple of games ahead for them.

‘Unless they get a result at the weekend they will be in trouble.’

Arsenal’s next assignment is a huge north London derby against Tottenham, who sacked Thomas Frank following their last game.

Speaking after the Wolves draw, Gunners boss Mikel Arteta said: ‘Incredibly disappointed that we gave two points away. I think we need to fault ourselves and give credit to Wolves.

‘But what we done in the second half was nowhere near our standards that we have to play in order to win a game in the Premier League.

‘There are certain things, certain basics that today we are very far from our level, and when you don’t perform you can get punished, and we got punished and we have to accept the hits because that can happen when you are on top.

‘Certain basics we have to do we did them so poorly one after the other. And then you have no dominance, no control in the game.’

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