Alan Shearer has issued a brutally honest verdict on Pablo Mari and Rob Holding for their roles in Arsenal's 2-0 defeat to Chelsea on Sunday afternoon.
The Gunners, who have now lost both of their opening games to make the worst possible start to their 2021/22 Premier League campaign, slumped to defeat following Romelu Lukaku and Reece James' goals at the Emirates Stadium.
The boos at half-time, and even more after the final whistle, were easy to hear in north London - with Mikel Arteta coming under increasing pressure as Arsenal manager.
When the Blues opened the scoring on the 15-minute mark through Lukaku, the £97.5million-striker bullied Mari, with his back to goal, where he shrugged off the defender before making the run into the box.
As the Chelsea forward ran towards goal, he once again came close to Mari, who tripped over after frantically trying to follow Lukaku, who then found himself with an open goal following James' low cross.
Shearer, speaking on Match of the Day 2, slammed Mari and Holding for their role in the goal and believes they could have done more to prevent the ball arriving at Lukaku's feet in the first place.
When asked if the latter should have done more to lead his team-mates in closing Lukaku down, the Newcastle United icon said Holding should have been: "Absolutely screaming.
"It’s not as if those two are youngsters in Holding and Mari, they’re experienced players now.
"You’ve got to be screaming at your midfielders, to say: ‘This cannot be allowed to happen’.
"Because one-vs-one, with his back to goal, with his back to defenders, not many players are going to stop Lukaku with his skill, with his strength and what he can do.
"You’ve got to tell the midfielders: ‘Come and give us a hand, and help me out’. And that never happened."
