Former Manchester United and England striker Wayne Rooney believes that the amount of young players at Arsenal could hurt them in their race for a top four finish this season. It comes after the Gunners were given a blow in their chances by Crystal Palace, losing 3-0 at Selhurst Park on Monday.
Goals from Jean-Philippe Mateta, Jordan Ayew and Wilfried Zaha sealed the win for Patrick Vieira facing his old club, summing up a game that Mikel Arteta’s men never got going in. The defeat keeps them in fifth, level with North London rivals Tottenham on points but with a game in hand still to come.
Discussing the performance of his team, Arteta told the media that his side were “sloppy”. “We weren’t at the races today especially in the first half," he said. "We were late to every ball, we were soft in the duels and we didn’t earn the right to play. When we did a little bit we were sloppy on the ball and we didn’t have any dominance, any sequences of play where we could take some control of the game and we conceded two poor goals.”
