Arsenal's worst period, says ex-star Wright

LONDON: Arsenal great Ian Wright claimed the club were going through the worst period in their recent history after their 10-2 Champions League last 16 humiliation by Bayern Munich.

Bayern repeated their 5-1 first-leg win in Tuesday's second leg to condemn Arsene Wenger's side to their heaviest defeat at the Emirates Stadium since they moved from Highbury in 2006.

It is the seventh year in succession that Arsenal have gone out of the Champions League in the last 16.

"It's a sad day because we've gone out again at this stage. We're going through a period in our history that's the worst," Wright, who played under Wenger, said on BT Sport.

"With everything that's going on, you have to say it will take some sort of monumental effort for Arsenal to turn it around in terms of the drive and determination of the players.

"It feels like something is coming to an end."

Wenger, who has been Arsenal manager since 1996, is out of contract at the end of the season and was the target of a protest from around 200 disgruntled fans prior to Tuesday's game.

At the final whistle, some fans held up banners calling for him to leave.

Wenger has said he will make an announcement about his future either this month or next.

"He looks like a lost man," said Wright. "It just seems to be mounting up. You've got the fans, the protests. It's imploding."

Wednesday's British newspaper sports pages put the boot in, with several screaming "WENGER OUT" in a nod both to Arsenal's elimination and the calls from supporters for him to step down.

The Daily Express headlined its match report "SHAME AGAIN" and The Times said Wenger had hit an "all-time low".

The Daily Telegraph said Arsenal had been "humiliated", with Wenger "urged to quit by fans", while The Guardian said he had been left "staring into the abyss".

The Daily Mirror focused on a picture of Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez supposedly smirking on the bench after being taken off, beneath the headline: "LAUGHING STOCK".

Wenger, 67, revolutionised Arsenal after arriving in England as a virtual unknown from Japanese club Nagoya Grampus Eight in September 1996.

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He led the club to three Premier League titles and four FA Cups in his first nine seasons, including the famous 'Invincibles' league campaign of 2003-04 when Arsenal went 38 games without defeat.

But the years since have yielded only two FA Cup successes, in 2014 and 2015, and while Arsenal have continually qualified for the Champions League, they last reached the semi-finals in 2009.

A recent run of three defeats in five games has seen Arsenal drop out of the Champions League places in the Premier League.

Their best hope of silverware lies in the FA Cup, with non-league Lincoln City due to visit the Emirates in the quarter-finals on Saturday.

India vs Australia: Adam Gilchrist asserts Virat Kohli's team does not need rank turners to win

Adam Gilchrist also heaped praise on Steve O’Keefe after his stupendous success in the first Test

India were bowled out for poor scores of 105 and 107 in the Pune Test against Australia, and succumbed to a massive 333-run defeat within three days. Steve O’Keefe walked over the famed Indian batting line-up and ended with a record spell of 12 for 70, handing the hosts their first Test defeat at home since 2012. While many lauded Australia’s victory that seemed impossible to the likes of Harbhajan Singh and Sourav Ganguly, Australia’s former cricketer Adam Gilchrist was particularly happy and thrilled. Gilchrist, who filled in for an injured Ricky Ponting to guide Australia to a historic series win in India in 2004, says that Virat Kohli’s team is strong enough to not require rank turners to win.

Speaking on the topic of turning tracks in India, Gilchrist told Mumbai Mirror, “The Chinnaswamy Stadium, we all know, can produce a beautiful cricket pitch — one that can reward the batsmen and bowlers alike. They can go for a conventional pitch which plays well early on and then deteriorates later or prefer the one like in Pune which was substandard. They can do that but they probably run the risk of losing another toss. If they win the toss, India will logically dominate the Test match and if they lose the toss, they could find themselves in trouble. And that would be risky when you are down in the series. But India has a the team that is capable of playing high quality cricket and get result on much better wickets than what we have seen. They don‘t need traditional India cricket pitches.”

Gilchrist could not stop praising Australia for their remarkable victory, “Looking at the two teams prior to the Test, it was unexpected, and certainly not in three days. My thoughts were that Renshaw (Matt) and Handscomb (Peter) did not have any previous experience but they prepared very well and had the best of the condition on a wicket which was not up to the standard. All in all, they did well to get that win and it is exciting for the rest of the series. India still play well in these conditions and they will be cursing. They will be ready to strike back.”

Gilchrist remained silent on the comments of Harbhajan and Ganguly, who predicted a whitewash. Instead he recollected the days when Glenn McGrath used to forecast the results ahead of any series, “McGrath always used to say 5-0, 4-0, 3-0 (for Australia) and I was happy to leave that to him. I never liked to predict results but those were not the only ones to write Australia off. Many others too did that but the team worked hard for the success. They have got off to a perfect start and the challenge is to win the game in Bangalore.”

Gilchrist said India need to stop over-depending on their captain as well as their ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin. “Virat, as I have said, is undoubtedly the world class player, a proven performer. But he can’t do business every single time. So there is a challenge for the rest of the batting group to find a way to shine on the odd times when Virat has not. Ravi Ashwin’s record speaks for itself. But the Australian batsmen seem to have a plan for him. He has a challenge too,” Gilchrist explained.

Gilchrist heaped praise on O’Keefe after his stupendous success in the first Test, “He is a hard worker, he has been very loyal and high performer for New South Wales for many years. Many have felt that his results had gone unrewarded by the previous Australian selectors. He did not get what he deserved in Test cricket. There were a few people who questioned he being in the team and he is enjoying proving them wrong. He is a very solid bowler who knows his game very well.”

No conversation is complete without mentioning MS Dhoni. Both these players have managed similar responsibilities from being a wicketkeeper to captain of the national side or leading from the front with the bat. Gilchrist concluded by saying “Batting, keeping and captaining at a time is not easy to do. I would not expect MS to be too upset about the loss of captaincy. He has achieved everything that can possibly be achieved in cricket. He has won all the trophies that one can win. I think he is enjoying his limited attendance in cricket. He has been one of the most exciting cricketers to watch in the last 10-15 years.”