Arsenal News 24/7Writer: Lee 
Date:Thursday May 12 2011
Time: 2:13PM
UK time is: 23:01:18
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Martin Keown interview - Squad is to blame
In an exclusive interview with footballaudio.com, former Arsenal stalwart Martin Keown claims Arsene Wenger 'over-estimated' his squad's ability this season, which has resulted in a sixth consecutive season without silverware.
Keown, who also won 43 caps for England and was part of both double winning sides Wenger has put together, believes it's been a massive opportunity the Gunners have missed with the league season so open, and thinks the players have let the manager and fans down.
Having lost the League Cup Final back in February, Arsenal then found themselves out of the Champions League and FA Cup in the following weeks, whilst their title challenge faltered at key times.
Meanwhile we hear Keown's views on new owner Stan Kroenke, who Keown believes could be the perfect partner for Wenger in the transfer market.
To listen to the interview CLICK HERE
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Your Comments
"thinks the players have let the manager and fans down" - preach it
shewore
Err, if Arsene Wenger overestimated the same set of players for 4 seasons in a row, then maybe we need someone who doesn't make that same mistake again.
Sajit
So Wenger overestimated what the current squad could do but with all the players back and available they could do better next season. Glad he cleared that up for us then.
Amos.
Could. Should. Would. Wenger has to take some of the criticism. He's the manager after all. He trains with all his players every week. He chooses the team. He revelled enough in the plaudits when they came his way. Now he needs to stand up and face his limitations. Seems to me people are already making excuses for him.
Wyn Mills
I think Wenger has to take all the criticism not some of it. Ultimately he's responsible for the players at his disposal and their performances as a team. But that's no reason not to consider what influences and restrictions there might be on the decisions he makes and whether they're fair and reasonable ones in the circumstances - even if they are wrong. That's not the same as making excuses. He'll always get plenty of decisions wrong as they all do but there aren't any guarantees many others would get them more right as consistently while using the same resources.
Amos.
Good interview. I think this blog article raises a debate we should all be thinking about: http://www.7amkickoff.com/2011/has-arsene-always-been-like-this/ . That blogger is not a "Wenger out" partisan in the least, by the way.
jaelle
If this season was a one off, an isolated incident then I would be more prepared to blame the players, unfortunately I think Wenger is to blame here 100%. If the same players keep cocking up and letting him down then why are they still here, why hasn't he changed something?
If he has restrictions which don't allow him to work properly then we are back to square one of the argument and the club shouldn't be marketing itself as a super club or charging premium ticket prices. Either way you look at it there has been a failure of imagination, action and the reality of this situation has been totally misjudged.The annual collapse is so frequent now that everyone expects it. It's not all doom and gloom but you have ask yourself why the entire club couldn't see what the fans saw coming a mile off?
Professor Calculus
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