Arsenal boss Unai Emery sounded "delusional" after defending his side's performance against Eintracht Frankfurt, according to former striker John Hartson.
The Gunners only needed a point at home to the Bundesliga side to secure their place in the Europa League last-32 knockout round, and looked to be heading towards qualification when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored on the stroke of half time.
But the German side fought back with two goals from Daichi Kamada to win and make it seven games without a victory for Arsenal - their worst run of form for 27 years.
Emery insisted his side were "in control" in the first half and improved from their last game. But after hearing the Arsenal boss' post-match interview on BT Sport, Hartson made a damning remark about the Spaniard.
"To me, it sounded a bit delusional," Hartson said.
"It sounded like he's hiding from the reality of his team is not quite good enough, the players are not performing to the level they should be. Three out of the back four, I wouldn't even have in my team, I don't think they're good enough.
"When they were 2-1 down, they didn't bring [Nicolas] Pepe or [Alexandre] Lacazette on. If they had got on, he's probably worried Frankfurt would break away and make it embarrassing. He was worried more about shoring up defensively. The proof is there, the players are on the bench with the scarves around their face.
"I know he's trying to protect his players but if you perform like that, I wouldn't want to go face my manager or my team-mates in training. That performance was nowhere near good enough."
Arsenal will now prepare to face Norwich City at Carrow Road on Sunday, but it remains to be seen whether Emery will be in the dugout at the weekend.
Vote in our poll above.
