Mathieu Flamini hammered by Arsenal fans as Francis Coquelin and Mohamed Elneny don't play

Arsene Wenger elected to start the veteran midfielder

(Getty Images)

Arsene Wenger was heavily criticised by Arsenal supporters after persisting with Mathieu Flamini against Southampton.

The veteran French midfielder was elected for a starting berth despite new signing Mohamed Elneny impressing in his debut at the weekend and Francis Coquelin making his long-awaited return from injury.

Egyptian Elneny, who completed 95 per cent of his passes against Burnley, didn't even make the substitutes' bench as Wenger believed he was too tired to play against Southampton.

​Flamini became a top trend on Twitter with the Gunners struggling to break the deadlock against a resilient Southampton side.

The Arsenal faithful became even more angry when Wenger decided to take winger Joel Campbell off and keep Flamini on the field despite the score remaining at 0-0.

Here is some of the best reaction:

Flamini was finally withdraw for Coquelin after 85 minutes - but Arsenal went on to draw 0-0 and are now without a Premier League win in four matches, and moved below rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the table.