Arsene Wenger will leave Arsenal without a European trophy, as his club bowed out of the Europa League against Atletico Madrid last night. Speaking on BT Sport after the game, erstwhile Arsenal defender Martin Keown - one of the gurning, maniacal rocks upon which Wenger built his first Arsenal church - finally snapped at poor old Mesut Ozil, hurling the age-old "not fit to wear the shirt" at the World Cup-winner.
Tonight it looked like Arsenal were carrying him.
I think he can demand the ball, make things tick, like Vieira did. Show some drive. Show some energy. He has his hands in the air as if, 'look, this group isn't as good as me'. Someone needed to grab him a long time ago, give him a shake and say, 'we are working for you, you're not working for us'.
I bet he won't play again this season. He'll have some emotional breakdown and won't be able to play this weekend. I don't know how many illnesses he has had this season.
The fella isn't kidding me. That's not a proper performance. He isn't giving everything, there is more under the bonnet. IT's a difficult job for the new manager, because Wenger has invested a lot of money in this player.
He wasn't fit to wear the shirt tonight. This needs to be said. He needs to be dug out, because we expect better. He is a World Cup winner. These are crocodile tears I'm seeing from the player. He's not conning me.
I've had my say on it, and I feel he isn't giving enough for Arsenal Football Club for me. And maybe Arsene Wenger should come out occasionally and say something about these players who should have performed for him, and he hasn't.
You can view Keown's views below.
The quotes were put to Wenger in his post-match press conference, and he stuck by his player:
I don't agree with that. You will see that when you analyse his performance, he gave a lot tonight It was a difficult game, physically very intense, and I'm convinced now that Ozil should not be victimised by anybody. We lose as a team. I don't agree with that, coming out now straight away. If you want to be listened to straight after a game you have to be extreme and football is a bit more complicated than that, a bit more complex.
