"Caught on his heels" - Lee Dixon hits out at Arsenal star after Newcastle United defeat 

Arsenal great Lee Dixon has slammed Gunners full-back Jurrien Timber after Mikel Arteta's side lost 2-0 against Newcastle United in the EFL Cup on Tuesday. Dixon singled out the Dutchman for his poor defending leading to the Magpies' second goal as the north London giants lost the first leg of the semi-final.

Alexander Isak continued his red-hot form by taking his season's tally to 14 goals to give Newcastle United the opener in the 37th minute. Anthony Gordon made it 2-0 for the visitors in the 51st minute by reacting the quickest following Isak's shot, which was stopped by David Raya.

Former England right-back Lee Dixon, who played 617 games for Arsenal over 14 seasons, has slammed Timber for allowing Gordon to get to the rebound. He insisted that a player of Timber's caliber should have anticipated the ball and clear the danger.

Dixon said on ITV’s commentary of the game, as quoted by Metro:

"There’s the space, there’s the ball but at the far post, Timber… Bits and pieces, too slow, you’ve got to react from the goalkeeper’s save better than that. Follow it in. Gordon does follow it in, he gets the rewards, 2-0. Big mountain to climb for Arsenal."

The former England international, who won 11 trophies with the Gunners, added:

"There was not much snap in that defensive play from Arsenal’s point of view. Isak comes into a No.10 position, just picks the ball up, lays it off and then wanders into space. Nobody picks him up, the two centre-backs don’t get tight enough.

"The shot gets fired away, it’s a decent save from Raya, he’s got to push it somewhere. But that is bread and butter for a full-back to follow in there. Timber was just caught on his heels and Gordon makes him pay."

Arsenal now have a monumental task on their hands if they have to overcome the 2-0 deficit from the first leg to turn it around. Mikel Arteta will be concerned with his side's inconsistency this campaign as they also find themselves six points behind Liverpool in the Premier League table.

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Gary Lineker claims Arsenal star is not good enough for Mikel Arteta's side

Pundit Gary Lineker recently expressed his concerns regarding Gabriel Jesus following Arsenal's 1-1 draw against Brighton on Saturday, January 4. The Brazil international failed to impress as the Gunners drew their seventh league game of the season at the Amex Stadium.

Following the game, Lineker insisted that Jesus is simply not good enough as a goalscorer and is unlikely to improve in that aspect. He said on 'The Rest is Football' podcast:

"We were talking about Jesus yesterday, weren’t we? I mean, he’s honest and he runs and he runs, and he’s got a one in three goal scoring record, which he had a similar thing at Manchester City as well. I think he’s almost two game. I mean, he runs everywhere."

The former Barcelona and Tottenham Hotspur striker added:

"He runs deep, he goes back deep to try and get the ball. I think if with a bit of centre forward style coaching and just say to him, stay in the middle, stay up the top. Don’t come deep all the time. We need you in the box, but he’s probably one of those players that he’s not going to change now.”

Jesus joined Arsenal in the summer of 2022 in a reported £45 million deal from Manchester City. The four-time Premier League winner has so far scored 26 goals and provided 17 assists in 95 games for the north London giants.