Arsenal: Keown claims ‘desperate’ Premier League manager has cost the Gunners the title
Arsenal legend Martin Keown believes that Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has cost the Gunners the Premier League title after taking six points off Mikel Arteta’s side.
The Gunners missed out on winning the Premier League title on the final day of the season as Manchester City beat West Ham 3-1 to take it out of their hands.
Arsenal did their bit on the final day with a late Kai Havertz goal giving them a 2-1 win over Everton but the day ultimately ended in disappointment as they finished two points adrift of newly-crowned champions Man City.
Emery was a largely unpopular figure during his time at the Emirates Stadium and ex-Arsenal defender Keown reckons the Aston Villa boss’ determination to beat the Gunners this season cost his former side the title.
“They [City] have that luxury, Arsenal are a developing club,” Keown said on talkSPORT.
“You go into a fight with Man City, if Arsenal manage a draw and they don’t lose to Villa they can be champions. So they went there to pick up those necessary points up because they know if they get beat it just wipes Arsenal out and City do it again.
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“I think the reason Arsenal didn’t win the league was because of Unai Emery – he takes six points off of Arsenal.
“I’m going to say this because I genuinely feel this that he’s like the swan on the surface, very calm, plays against his old team respectively but below the surface he’s desperate, those little feet are going like crazy to beat Arsenal and he’s managed it, he stopped Arsenal winning the league.
“It’s ironic, I played for both great clubs, and Villa have just been amazing. They started the season by conceding five goals and they finished it by conceding five goals and in between they’ve ended up top four, but they’ve had a massive say in who won the Premier League this year.
“But the level City have set, they set the benchmark and I think Arsenal are catching up very quickly.
“That’s Rodri, because what he wants to do is send a message, ‘we’re the best’. They do it, they win the trophies. But that just lays it down for next year.
“If I’m an Arsenal player now, you go away, you think about it, you use it as oxygen, you come out of the ashes and come back firing and you keep going until you win.”
