Michael Owen cannot see Arsenal winning the FA Cup despite wanting Arsene Wenger to leave the Gunners on a high.
Arsenal followed up a 3-1 Premier League defeat against Liverpool with a miserable 10-2 Champions League aggregate exit to Bayern Munich, but raised fans’ spirits by beating Lincoln City 5-0 on Saturday to coast into the FA Cup semi-finals.
Arsene Wenger’s side won the competition in 2014 and 2015, but Owen – who memorably starred for Liverpool in the 2001 cup final victory against the Gunners- believes that the north London club will struggle to lift the trophy this season given that a number of elite clubs remain in contention.
“If they win the FA Cup and get top four… well, they’re not going to do that,” Owen told BT Sport.
I can’t see them winning the FA Cup. If they play Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City, maybe Tottenham, they’re going out the way they’re playing at the moment.
“Top four, that’s a possibility, but I’m not sure that you can reverse what’s happening at the moment.”
Around 200 Arsenal fans protested against Wenger’s tenure before Saturday’s match – a follow-up to a larger march before the Bayern defeat – and Owen feels the French manager’s time at the Emirates is coming to an end.
“What I want to see is Arsene Wenger going out with his head held high with fans not demanding he goes out and any of this rubbish,” he added.
“He has been just unbelievable for this club, he’s made this club for what they are now, he’s grown it for 20 years.
“I think at the end of the season, he should probably come out and say ‘right, I’m going to leave’.”