Alan Shearer Feels Sorry for Arsenal Centre Back Pair as Unai Emery's Tactics Leave Them Exposed

Former Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer has voiced his opinion on Unai Emery's current tactical set up at the Emirates. Even though Arsenal pulled off an

Former Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer has voiced his opinion on Unai Emery's current tactical set up at the Emirates.

Even though Arsenal pulled off an important 3-1 win against West Ham this weekend, it could've been a very different result if the visitors were more clinical. 

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Raising his concerns on BBC's Match of the Day, Shearer said: “Conceding goals, if they continue to play like this and they don’t find the right balance, will be a huge problem.

“And I feel sorry at times for the two centre-halves because they’ve got no protection whatsoever.

“Whether that’s in front of them or the other side of them. They really need midfielders to track runners as well because there’s not a lot of pace in that backline."

Arsenal's defending should come with a laugh track

— Zito (@_Zeets) August 25, 2018

With fullbacks Hector Bellerin and Nacho Monreal entrusted to create width in the attack, Arsenal left their central pairing to deal with West Ham's scoring threat.

Although the Gunners did see the Spaniards combine to score an equaliser, some may wonder why they were behind in the first place. 

In the early stages of Arsenal v West Ham, it is abundantly clear that neither side is very good at defending.

— Paddy Power (@paddypower) August 25, 2018

With Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Shkodran Mustafi left to control Marko Arnautovic, the Gunners' support watched the Austrian smash their rivals into an early lead.

There could've been a second for the Hammers just before half time as well, as the big man finished past Petr Cech before being flagged for a marginal offside.

Not a fan of Emery's plan, Shearer went on to say that Arsenal will get caught out by better sides if they continue down this path: “Something has to change. They need protection in front of them and both full-backs can’t go forward at the same time.

"Otherwise they’ll get done time and time again. 

"They’ve conceded two to Man City, three to Chelsea and it could have been four or five today.”