Arsenal legend fires back at Jamie Carragher after ‘crisis’ claims
'I wonder whether he actually is a Liverpool fan.'
Martin Keown has hit back at Jamie Carragher after claims that Arsenal are suffering a decline and ‘one game away from a crisis,’ made by the Liverpool legend.
The Gunners are second in the Premier League table, so it is hardly a disastrous season so far, but it has been a very frustrating one.
Following the nightmare first half of the season that Manchester City have suffered, the Premier League title race is missing its defending champion, but Arsenal have not been able to capitalise.
Liverpool are six points clear at the top with a game in hand on the Gunners, with Arteta’s team not out of contention but struggling to mount a genuinely threatening challenge.
Injuries to the likes of Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Ben White have not helped, but Carragher has suggested this season could be the sign of a decline under Arteta.
‘Have we already witnessed the peak years of Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal reign?’ Carragher asked in his Telegraph column before a draw with Aston Villa at the weekend.
‘It feels like this Emirates era is heading towards a crossroads, with Arsenal in the middle of a high-stakes game.
‘This will either be one of the greatest seasons in the club’s history – ending a 21-year wait for the Premier League title – or a campaign which ends amid a highly-charged post-season review into how they squandered their best chance to become champions in two decades.
‘There is yet to be a performance that leaves you thinking they look like the next champions. The balance of the squad is not right.’
He added on Sky Sports: ‘It feels to me that every time I watch Arsenal play, they’re only one game away from a crisis.’
Keown does not agree, questioning the motives behind Carragher’s comments, but does admit there needs to be a review held and changes made at Arsenal.
‘It seems like it’s a sniper from Jamie Carragher, but sometimes I wonder whether he actually is a Liverpool fan,’ Keown told talkSPORT.
‘The amount of rows he’s got into with Van Dijk and Salah and various players and suddenly now here he is, championing his former club at Arsenal’s demise.
‘I don’t think there’s a massive crisis at Arsenal suddenly because they don’t win it [the title] and Liverpool do.
‘Of course there’d be a review and there would be changes, because there’d be players coming in in the front line. There’s no doubt about that, and Arteta will put the pieces in the jigsaw.
‘But I don’t see that there’s a massive issue, and that suddenly Arsenal fall off a cliff. No, I don’t see that at all.’
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