Martin Keown found himself involved in a heated encounter with an Arsenal fan live on talkSPORT after the Gunners lost more ground in the title race.
The recent defeat to West Ham has seen Liverpool extend their lead over the Gunners at the top of the Premier League table to 11 points.
And with the club without their four key forwards in Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus, many Gooners feel as though that gap will only increase.
With clashes against Nottingham Forest, Manchester United and Chelsea on the horizon, Arsenal could find themselves in a fight for a top four spot should they suffer a dip in form.
Their situation led Arsenal fan Trevor to phone up on the White and Jordan show, where he suggested Mikel Arteta should be sacked if he once again fails to scoop any silverware.
The Champions League presents Arsenal’s most likely chance of success, but with a horror run to the final, they’ll need luck in abundance – something that hasn’t gone their way this term.
The domestic cups also presented an excellent chance, but the Gunners have crashed out of both.
They were beaten 4-0 by Newcastle United on aggregate in the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup, while in the FA Cup, a penalty shootout defeat to Manchester United saw them exit the competition in the third round.
Trevor was also highly critical of Arteta’s transfer business in recent years having failed to sign a striker during his tenure so far.
While Havertz and Jesus have been brought in, neither are natural centre-forwards, nor are they consistent goalscorers – despite often leading the line.
Trevor said: “I think it’s a miracle now if we end up winning the Champions League, and I think if that doesn’t happen, it’s time for a change with Arteta.”
He added: “I can’t see why on Earth we have to keep on depending on Arteta to get us over the line, I think he was fortunate to get the job as his first managerial job when he had no experience of being a manager before.
“Since he’s been there in over five-and-a-half-years, he has never bought a striker, not one striker, and every other striker he’s got rid of.
“He fell out with [Pierre-Emerick] Aubameyang, he got rid of him, [Alexandre] Lacazette and [Eddie] Nketiah and he has never replaced them with an out-and-out striker, and if Martin can tell me something different, I’ll be prepared to listen.”
Taking centre stage, Keown was quick to defend Arteta, while also being left in disbelief over Trevor’s outrage.
The Gunners legend remarked: “Well, Jesus was considered to be a striker, Havertz was considered to be a striker, that’s £90million-£100m there just for two players.
“It’s the type of striker isn’t it that we’re referring to? Both of these guys do a lot of work outside the box and I think that he’s [Arteta] gone for that collective approach with the way that he plays.
“And the out-and-out striker is someone who hasn’t yet arrived, and I think that’ll happen Trevor, I’m just interested in why you are so disillusioned in what you’re seeing?
“Do you not feel now that this Arsenal team is much more in the fight when they play games?”
Keown then went on to state how ‘one or two more signings’ could be enough for Arsenal to clinch their first league championship since 2004 as he praised Arteta for turning them into regular title contenders.
But Trevor wasn’t having it, as he said: “It’s 20 years now we’ve been waiting for a league title and every time we’re falling up short.
“I’m not disagreeing with Martin over his point of there’s been improvement under Arteta, but I’m saying as a rookie manager, there could be certain faults within him that he’s not had the experience.
“And each time we get close enough, he just doesn’t get us over the line.”
Despite his difference in opinion with one Arsenal fan, Keown believes the vast majority of supporters will keep supporting former captain Arteta.
Speaking to talkSPORT.com about whether he fears fans could soon turn on the Spaniard, the 58-year-old stated: “No. I don’t see it that way.
“I think he’s been building over the five-year period, there was a lot of deadwood that needed to be gotten rid of when you look at [Mesut] Ozil, Aubameyang.
“There was a lot of players there that wasn’t right, the culture wasn’t right, he needed to change that.
“And don’t forget, six years away from the Champions League, then you’re second two years on the bounce, your Champions League football hasn’t affected your league position, if anything it enhanced it last year.
“This has been the first moment where you’ve thought, ‘OK, I’m liking the kids [Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly] come through.
“But we’re asking too much of Nwaneri to fill in for as long as he is with Saka unavailable and I don’t think you can plan for that.
“So I think the fans will understand that, they’re intelligent, they realise [the situation].
“But maybe next year now is a big season where you need to be looking to achieve something, to win something, and the team needs it, the group needs it to be part of the history of the club.
“You want to see photographs with trophies and that’s the next goal for the club, but everyone is beating Arsenal with a stick right now.
“But they were keeping in a [title] race, no-one else was really mounting a challenge, they just couldn’t get to a situation where they got withing three or four points.”
Keown added: “In this 16-game run they’ve just been on [in the Premier League], they’ve lost one game, but they’re not winning enough games, drawing too many.
“And that cutting edge has really been a problem for us.”
Arsenal will be looking to return to winning ways when they face high-flying Forest at the City Ground tonight – live on talkSPORT.
Forest sit third in the table and six points behind Arsenal, with victory for Nuno Espirito Santo’s side to boost their own hopes of securing Champions League football.
