Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown says “decisions have got to be made” about Unai Emery’s future after the Gunners’ dismal 2-1 defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt.
Having led through Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang at half-time, two goals from Daichi Kamada saw the Bundesliga side win an encounter desperately short on quality in front of a sparsely-populated Emirates Stadium.
The defeat meant Arsenal have now gone seven games without a win in all competitions – their worst such run since 1992, before Arsene Wenger joined the club. For Keown, it might have spelled the end of the road for the Frenchman’s successor.
“I think he may now have taken the team as far as he can,” Keown said on BT Sport. “We just witnessed an absolute shambles of a performance in that second half.
“The team selection, the team motivation, the substitutions, the performance – everything was missing here, it was a dreadful performance.
“I think you have to go back… the fans turned many years ago on Terry Neill, I was at the football club when it happened, and things got very toxic within the club. I think we’re getting close to that again.
“Is he able to motivate this team? He seems to have lost the players. The desire seems to have ebbed away.”
Keown also found fault with the performances of key players such as Granit Xhaka, who returned for the first time since his angry outburst towards fans in October, and Shkodran Mustafi.
He also questioned Emery’s decision to bring three midfielders off the bench in Lucas Torreira, Matteo Guendouzi and Mesut Ozil, while Alexandre Lacazette and Nicolas Pepe remained on the bench.
“I know change was needed,” Keown continued. “Wenger was at the football club just a little bit too long, but now it looks as if the club has got to go in a different direction now.
“We’re going only one way at the moment. This is relegation form.
“Do the club really realise how tricky this is now going to be? Decisions have got to be made. There are some football people at the top of the club – make the decisions that need to be made because otherwise, Arsenal are going to plunge even further down the table.
“I feel it’s very sad. The fans, there was hardly anyone there tonight, they’ve voted with their feet. They knew what was coming there.”