Arsenal was expected to win against the visiting Eintracht Frankfurt but the final score read 2-1 in favor of the opponent, dealing another blow to beleaguered head coach Unai Emery. The last time the Gunners had the sweet taste of victory was more than a month ago, and the pressure is mounting for the Spanish boss to go.
Arsenal is now on a disappointing run of winless matches in all competitions and the last time the club prevailed over an opponent was October 6. There is no sign the promised turnaround by Emery will happen anytime soon, and pundits are now in agreement that he's hit the end of the road.
Analyst Martin Keown is convinced the Gunners coach has no more tricks to reveal, according to Mirror. The Spaniard appeared to be a spent man, added Keown, who was a defender for the North London and figured prominently in winning several titles.
"Emery has taken the team as far as he can. 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," the Arsenal legend was reported as saying.
He warned that the Gunners are close to relegation territory so a decision on the fate of Emery must be made soon, stressing: "This is relegation form. Do the club realize how tricky this will now be? Decisions have to be made."
Keown observed that it seemed lost on Emery that he no longer inspires the Gunners on the pitch and things are getting out of control. He said that the ax has to fall now before things deteriorate and become irreversible.
Andy Murray fully agreed with the reading. The former tennis player said the Gunners need a change badly and it has to start with Emery.
"But from what I've been reading the atmosphere has been pretty bad, and I don't think that's good news for the players, staff or anyone there. Unless that changes quickly, a change has to be made," Metro reported Murray as saying.
He lamented that Arsenal missed out on Jose Mourinho, who recently was hired by Tottenham as a replacement for sacked manager Mauricio Pochettino.
The Portuguese, according to Murray, would have been a good choice, adding "I think he would do a good job for Arsenal."
The best thing about the former Manchester United coach is able to win matches, and he "would have been a great appointment ... He finds ways to win matches, tournaments," Murray said.
