Sir Alex Ferguson savages ‘boring’ Arsenal in congratulations text to PSG president | OneFootball

Legendary Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has criticised ‘boring’ Arsenal for their style of play in their defeat to Paris Saint-Germain on Saturday evening.

The Gunners took the lead through Kai Havertz early on in the first half and sat back for much of the game as they challenged the French champions to break them down.

Ousmane Dembele finally got an equaliser from the penalty spot on mid-way through the second half after Arsenal defender Cristhian Mosquera brought down Khvicha Kvaratskhelia inside the area.

There was no separating the two sides after 120 minutes and the game went to spot-kicks, with Eberechi Eze and Gabriel Magalhaes missing their penalties to give PSG a 4-3 win in the shoot-out.

Ferguson was far from impressed by what he saw from Arsenal, who had less than 25 per cent possession over the 120 minutes, and French newspaper L’Equipe have claimed that Man Utd legend texted PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi to tell him as much.

In a congratulatory text, Ferguson reportedly wrote: ‘Nasser, this is Alex Ferguson. Well done, it was a tough night for you, but you played against a boring team that did nothing but defend. Enjoy your holidays, you deserve it.’

Former Scotland international Craig Burley slammed the tactics deployed by Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta and insisted they shouldn’t have sat back for as long as they did.

Burley said on ESPN: “Let’s lay it out on the table, when they scored after six minutes, they tried to defend their way to the 90th minute. Had it been PSG who scored after six minutes, they would have carried on attacking and probing and trying to win the game. And that’s the contrast in how these two teams approach, not only the final, but approach football.”

“Arsenal regressed into trying to defend their way through 84 minutes plus injury time. That’s tough to do. A valiant effort from Arsenal, but in terms of a football game, PSG by far, even not at their best, were the better of these two sides.”

Burley added: “Three times from a kick-off they’ve lobbed it forward like it was a game of rugby. That’s embarrassing. That’s 1980s football back in England. It really is.”

Nasri: The referee systematically whistled against Arsenal

Former Arsenal attacking midfielder Samir Nasri insisted that the Gunners’ decision to time waste in the first half influenced the referee’s attitude towards them in the second half.

Nasri said on Canal+’s Late Football Club: “In the second period, the referee systematically whistled against Arsenal. He punished them for their time-wasting in the first half.”