Wenger must consider Arsenal future – Keown
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has reached “his lowest point” and may quit the club this season, says his former Gunners captain Martin Keown.
He is one of several of Wenger’s former players who feel they have seen a change in the long-serving boss. Arsenal are facing a seventh successive last-16 Champions League exit following a 5-1 thrashing at Bayern Munich.
Ex-Arsenal defender Lee Dixon said: “This team is getting no response from him. I’ve never seen him like that.”
Frenchman Wenger, at the helm since 1996 but whose contract expires at the end of this season, has not won the Premier League since 2004, but Keown told BT Sport: “Arsene must be considering his future now. That is the first time where I’ve seen him where I’ve thought, ‘he thinks it’s time’. The fact that he hasn’t been able to get a response from the players in the last few weeks might be the final straw.”
Arjen Robben fired German champions Bayern into the lead at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday, but Arsenal fought back and equalised when Alexis Sanchez followed up and finished his own saved penalty.
However, in the second half the Gunners capitulated, as Bayern excelled in a 10-minute period during which Robert Lewandowski restored Bayern’s lead before Thiago Alcantara scored twice. Substitute Thomas Muller scored late on to surely put the tie beyond the Gunners.
Keown - a defender who made 449 appearances for Arsenal - said recently he expected his former manager to get one more season. However, after watching the Bayern defeat as a pundit for BT Sport, Keown questioned whether he should stay.
“It’s almost embarrassing. Outclassed, outplayed,” he said. “I can’t ever say I’d like to see him go (but) this is his lowest point ever as Arsenal manager.”
Last week, former striker Ian Wright, who scored 185 goals for the Gunners from 1991-98, told BBC Radio 5 live he did not expect Wenger to stay on next season.