Arsenal legend Martin Keown suggests Unai Emery may be thinking of quitting now

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Arsenal manager Unai Emery is on increasingly thin ice at the Emirates Stadium after the Gunners’ latest poor display.

Arsenal legend Martin Keown has issued a scathing verdict on the Gunners’ performance in the Europa League last night and claimed that Unai Emery “may be in a position where he feels he needs to step aside now”.

The current Arsenal manager has found himself on increasingly thin ice at the Emirates Stadium, with their last two games – against Southampton and Eintracht Frankfurt at the Emirates Stadium – yielding bad performances.

The 2-2 draw against the Saints – only secured deep in injury time – was Arsenal’s sixth successive game in all competitions without a win and marked their fifth Premier League match in a row without victory, with sections of the Emirates audibly chanting for Emery to be sacked.

On Thursday, meanwhile, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang made the breakthrough with a strike just before half time, the Bundesliga side having only managed one shot on goal in the first half.

However, the Gunners lost their lead in the second half when Daichi Kamada curled in a fierce effort from the edge of the box, before then putting his side in front with another sweet strike from the edge of the area to eventually down the hosts.

“I think he may well have taken the team as far as he can,” Keown told BT Sport, as quoted by BBC Sport. “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 fans turned many years ago on Terry Neill – 37 years ago. I was at the club when it happened and things got very toxic at the club, I think we are getting close to that again. Is he able to motivate this team? He seems to have lost the players. The desire seems to have ebbed away.

“I think maybe the manager may be in a position where he feels he needs to step aside now. Serious questions need to be asked. This is as bad as I have seen it. This is relegation form. Decisions need to be made otherwise the club is going to plunge further down the table.”

Keown came through the ranks at Arsenal in the 1980s, making over 400 appearances for the club and winning 10 honours, and is number 20 on the club list of the greatest Gunners players of all time.