Martin Keown says Arsenal’s decision to appoint Unai Emery as manager looks like the ‘wrong move’ and suggests David Luiz should be dropped following his poor performance against Southampton.
The Gunners have failed to win in their last six matches across all competitions and only managed a draw at home to relegation-threatened Southampton on Saturday after Alexandre Lacazette netted a last-gasp equaliser.
Emery is under serious pressure ahead of Arsenal’s Europa League clash with Eintracht Frankfurt and reports suggest he has just three games to save his job, with Mikel Arteta, Max Allegri and Mauricio Pochettino all being eyed as potential replacements.
There are growing questions within Arsenal’s hierarchy regarding Emery’s future and Keown believes the Spaniard’s days at the club may be numbered.
‘They gave the job to Emery but that is beginning to look like it was the wrong move,’ the ex-Arsenal defender said in his Daily Mail column.
‘Now the decision-makers at Arsenal have another big call to make: do they stick with Emery or look elsewhere?
‘Arsenal are lost at the moment. If they decide to stick with Emery then the manager has big decisions to make himself.’
Luiz was largely to blame for Danny Ings’ early goal at the Emirates on Saturday and Keown believes Emery should consider dropping the Brazilian.
‘I warned against Arsenal signing David Luiz in August and I wonder if he should be taken out of the team now,’ Keown said.
‘Certainly star players like Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Lacazette will not be signing extensions unless things change.’
Keown’s former centre-back partner, Tony Adams, was also critical of Luiz’s defending for Southampton’s opener at the weekend.
‘They’re all sleeping look at Luiz here,’ Adams said in his role as a pundit for BT Sport.
‘What is Luiz doing? He’s just standing there.
‘They’ve tried to play out from the back creating their own problems and they’re not into this game at all hopefully they might get a reaction.’
He added: ‘We’ve got fantastic finishers but the other end is shocking.
‘We need something sorted defensively very quickly.’
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