Paul Merson: 'Unai Emery to blame for Arsenal collapse'

Former Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson has blamed manager Unai Emery for the club losing a two goal lead in yesterday's game with Watford, saying he got it 'horribly wrong'.

The Gunners had led 2-0 at Vicarage Road courtesy of a brace from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, but a series of defensive mistakes allowed the Hornets to draw level through Tom Cleverley and Roberto Pereyra and almost win it towards the end.

Writing in his Sky Sports column, Merson said: "I've got to put it on the manager. People will say there were experienced players on the pitch, but he's the manager and they're paid to listen to him.

"You can't have a manager give instructions on how to play and then they go out and do their own thing. There would be mutiny, so they're listening to him and he's not getting it right.

"The shackles came off and Watford felt like they had nothing to lose, but the manager got it horribly wrong. I couldn't believe he brought Ozil off. Who else is going to open up a team bar him?"

Arsenal captain Granit Xhaka said that the team were 'scared' during the second half of yesterday's game, while Greek defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos blamed himself for the mistake that led to Cleverley's goal.