Theo Walcott says Arsenal must show unity through difficult period
Wednesday 8 March 2017 18:35, UK
Theo Walcott says the time for in-fighting at Arsenal must come to an end and that the players need to take the pressure off Arsene Wenger.
Walcott was on target on an otherwise dreadful night on Tuesday as the Gunners crashed out of the Champions League in the last 16 for a seventh straight season with a humbling 10-2 aggregate defeat by Bayern Munich.
Alexis Sanchez was dropped for the 3-1 Premier League defeat at Liverpool on Saturday and appeared to be smiling while on the bench after being taken off during the emphatic loss to Bayern.
Those mounting problems have led to renewed criticism of manager Wenger, but Walcott says now is the time for unity at the Emirates Stadium.
Walcott said: "There are certain things that happen at training grounds; you don't see it often at Arsenal.
"Things have happened. They need to stay in the dressing room and the players and staff need to sort it out. We are in it together here. We can't be fighting each other.
"I don't really want to go into it, but the stuff that has gone on did not affect our first half here [at home to Bayern Munich]."
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Criticism of Wenger has grown more vociferous this week following the 5-1 second-leg mauling by the German champions and a run of three defeats in four Premier League games that has seen the club drop outside the top four.
Wenger, who is out of contract at the end of the campaign, gave the strongest sign yet he could end his 20-year reign at Arsenal when he recently said he will manage next season, but did not know if it would be "somewhere else".
"We need to take the pressure off the manager and that will happen by performances. Who knows what the manager will do?" Walcott said when asked about Wenger's future.
"Players just want to play football for this club and do well for the manager. The players are like everybody else - we don't really know what's going on."
