Former striker says manager made mistakes but believes the Emirates Stadium outfit can beat Bayern.
Arsenal legend Ian Wright believes Arsene Wenger made a ‘big mistake’ by not prioritising the FA Cup this season.
The Gunners crashed out of the the FA Cup on Saturday after an embarrassing 1-0 defeat at home to Blackburn Rovers all but ended their hopes of winning a domestic trophy this season.
Wenger’s side had already lost to Football League opposition in the League Cup and Wright believes that the Frenchman made an error of judgement ahead of Blackburn’s visit.
“Wenger has once again made life incredibly difficult for himself by not fielding his strongest team against Blackburn…with the result an embarrassing defeat. Another one,” Wright told The Sun.
“Wenger made a big mistake by not making the FA Cup his top priority.”
The North London outfit face Bayern Munich in the Champions League last-16 at the Emirates Stadium tonight, knowing they must beat the runaway Bundesliga leaders over two legs to keep their only hope of ending an eight-year trophy drought alive.
And Wright believes Arsenal have what it takes to get past last year’s runners-up.
“But I do believe this Arsenal team — providing they all play at their very best — could beat the Germans over two legs.
“If Bayern go into tonight’s game thinking it is a good time to play Arsenal, then we could still get a home win.
“Arsenal have everything to fight for and nothing to lose.”
The Gunners are currently four points behind rivals Tottenham in the race for the fourth place in the Premier League, but Wright, 49, has insisted that simply reaching the Champions League again is not good enough for Arenal.
“Wenger must be regretting the time he claimed finishing fourth in the Premier League is like winning a trophy,” he added.
“It is not.”
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