Martin Keown has slammed Arsenal and claims his former club have "not been good enough" throughout the course of the 2015/16 season. The former defender also ruled out the Gunners' chance of winning the title this term.
Arsene Wenger's side sit third in the league table with 5 points after 32 matches. Leicester City are leading the table with 72 points, seven points ahead of second place Tottenham Hotspur. The top two teams have played one fixture more than the Emirates club.
Arsenal have managed just two wins in last six matches, which includes a 3-3 draw against West Ham United. The ex-England international has urged Gabriel to take more responsibility in order to provide more support to other defenders.
"Arsenal have not been good enough over the season. You start looking at credentials of potential champions and the best teams are above Arsenal. I know they can mathematically still do it but I don't think they will," Keown told the Daily Mail.
"Recently, Mohamed Elneny and Francis Coquelin in midfield have given them more backbone, but I think Gabriel needs to get more physical. When he tried to be more physical against Chelsea he was sent off and now he is trying to behave himself but he still hasn't found the right balance.
"Against West Ham, when Andy Carroll is running his studs down back of Laurent Koscielny's achilles inside the first 10 minutes, Gabriel has to take that personally. I was very surprised that Arsenal's defenders were happy to allow their team-mates to be bullied. I like to see some aggression in central defensive players and Arsene Wenger will be happy to see more physicality from him."
Since 2016, Arsenal have won only three matches away from the Emirates in all competitions. When asked if the Gunners lack the mentality is the reason behind Arsenal's poor display in away fixtures, Keown said: "There is no single factor – at the end of the day."
