Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown has issued a damning assessment of his his former club following their Europa League exit.
The Gunners lost 2-1 to Olympiakos at the Emirates on Thursday evening, drawing 2-2 on aggregate, thus being knocked out of the continental tournament via the away goals rule.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s dramatic extra-time overhead kick looked to have sealed Arsenal’s lst 16 spot, only for Youssef El-Arabi to score in the dying moments to ruin the occasion for the home side.
Arsenal can now only return to the Champions League through qualification through Premier League placement, and with the Gunners currently in ninth, Keown doubts that the club currently have what it takes.
The former centre-back also believes the club would stand no chance against the competition in the more elite European competition, telling BT Sport that his former side would be ‘mauled’.
As reported by Metro Sport, Keown said:
He [Arteta] knows where the problems are he said that they were in control but never really comfortable. He was arguing that it wasn’t a slow start, I thought it was.
If you’re going to lose a game against Olympiacos, they’ve lost 10 of their last 11 fixtures away from home.
If Arsenal are thinking about getting into the Champions League we’d get mauled by the top teams. Arsenal are just not good enough now to be at that level.
We looked at the likes of Real Madrid and Man City last night, we’re an awful long way behind those teams.
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Keown raises some fair points, and with Arsenal not able to bast a side like Olympiakos over two legs, with all due respect to the Greek side, then how could they ever expect to battle the likes of Bayern Munich, Real Madrid or PSG?
Of course, it is all a learning process. Arsenal suffered under Unai Emery, and they made the conscious decision to appoint a replacement whose managerial experience is almost completely absent, but one who is hungry and regarded as a future talent.
It is likely going to take some time before Arteta can shape his squad to match his needs, and the summer transfer window will be a big opportunity for him to do that.
However, whether he’ll be able to attract top players without being able to offer them Champions League football remains to be seen.
