Arsene Wenger snaps back at Roy Keane over Jack Wilshere criticisim

ARSENAL have discovered their next opposition today as the Europa League last 16 draw was held in Switzerland.

Those defeats contributed greatly to the club’s European stagnation, which has seen the Gunners not get beyond the Round of 16 since a quarterfinal appearance in 2010, when Arsenal were eliminated by Barcelona.

Arsenal still advanced 4-2 on aggregate to the round of 16 after winning the first leg 3-0 in Sweden, but were in danger of suffering a humiliating exit after the visitors jumped out to 2-0 lead in the first half. He looked underprepared in the first half of the game and never looked settled on the ball.

Sead Kolasinac’s goal calmed some nerves but Arsenal still managed to lose at home to a tiny Swedish club that had never reached this stage before. You can’t just switch it on and off’.

“It’s very hard, I personally rate Jack very highly”.

Martin Keown, one of Arsene Wenger’s former charges, erupted: “Kolasinac doesn’t seem the same player as the one who joined”.

Late past year, Östersund condemned Zorya to a 2-0 loss at Arena L’viv in Ukraine to become to attain their first win in a European competition.

“We were not at the races in the first half”.

Having built a convincing 3-0 lead during the away leg at their little-known Swedish opponents, Wenger named an under-strength team in preparation for Sunday’s fixture at Wembley and watched his team struggle and fall two goals down by half-time. Such performances are just not good enough for the level he competes at. They’re so slow out of the blocks.

Speaking on ITV‘s highlights show, Keane was critical of Wilshere and Arsenal on the whole.

The Swedes ran out of legs as their continental adventure came to an end with a famous victory, but Arsenal were left facing plenty of questions ahead of Sunday’s League Cup final against Manchester City. A lack of concentration at the back from Rob Holding allowed the Jordanian winger to slip in down the right wing, and burst towards the goal, and from there it was an easy goal for the midfielder as he slotted the ball under David Ospina.

With competition for places in the top four of the Premier League tighter than ever, and the Gunners now sixth and eight points off the pace, Wenger knows that winning the Europa League is probably Arsenal’s most likely route to qualifying for next season’s Champions League.