Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown has accused Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez of letting the club down at key stages of the season.
The duo combined to score 41 goals between them throughout the campaign, but Arsenal still missed out on a top-four spot for the first time under Arsene Wenger and will consequently be playing Europa League football next season.
Speculation over the future of both players has raged throughout the campaign as they approach the final year of their contracts, and Keown believes that the club should cash in if they are not fully committed to the cause.
"It became about Ozil and Sanchez for too long in the season. I think their behaviour let Arsenal down in that period. Ozil wasn't available for large periods. Was he injured, wasn't he? Was it sickness, was it injury? He didn't seem to be around when they needed him most. Sanchez then had an incident at the club. It felt like he threw his toys out of the cot for a little while. We don't really know exactly what happened," Keown told BT Sport.
"All of that was I think because these guys were maybe over-indulged a little bit. That's Arsene Wenger's style of management. They're the best players, they're the type of players he loves most of all. They maybe let Arsene Wenger down. No one player is bigger than the club. For the benefit of the group, tough decisions have to be made. You can't say that by taking these two out Arsenal are going to get better but if they don't want to be there then the club has to look forward and has to build.
"I think [Sanchez] is a difficult man to manage. I did turn up at the training ground once - I've only been there I think twice in the last three years - and it was one of his days off but he suddenly turned up and he was bouncing around the training pitch. They were having to facilitate him and put a training session on for him. That can be a good thing but he's a very demanding individual. It's not necessarily about you as a player, you have to fit in as well with the group."
Questions were also raised over Ozil's body language at various stages of the season, which suggested frustration towards some of his teammates.
"That's what really has got to be considered. How is that affecting other players? I do feel like if I was playing in some of the games when Ozil doesn't get a perfect pass, I think I already would have been in his ear telling him my bit: 'I'm trying to give the ball to you, don't disrespect me in the way you do when I don't get the ball to you'," Keown added.
"'And by the way how about you working just as hard out of possession as I'm working out of possession?' I'm surprised he's got away with some of that with the players."
Arsenal take on Chelsea in the FA Cup final at Wembley on Saturday.
Barney Corkhill
