Dennis Bergkamp and Jens Lehmann Criticise Arsenal's 2015/16 Campaign

Ex-Arsenal stars Dennis Bergkamp and Jens Lehmann have criticised the club’s 2015-16 campaign, with the latter claiming the team have “thrown away the title.” 

The Gunners slipped into fourth position in the Premier League table after successive draws with West Ham United and Crystal Palace. They’re results which, after clinging onto the coattails of league leaders Leicester City and local rivals Tottenham Hotspur, have left the Gunners in a battle for Champions League qualification, not the trophy.

Bergkamp thinks the collective defensive woes of this side have been key to an underwhelming season.

"From my experience, defending is the responsibility of the whole team in modern football," he said, per Martha Kelner of the MailOnline. "Arsenal can't say 'oh the defence,' you need to have the right balance and the right positioning on the pitch. You can't really blame the striker for not scoring when he doesn't get any deliveries. Probably the offensive guys don't track back really hard."

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Lehmann thinks they only have themselves to blame, too. "If you're an Arsenal supporter there have definitely been better times,” he said at the Laureus Sports Awards (h/t Kelner). “It's a fact they threw the title away, of course they did. The table now is different.”

Leicester City currently have a five-point lead atop the Premier League table from the Gunners’ bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur.

While Arsenal have wilted under pressure in the last couple of matches, Spurs laid down a massive marker on Monday night with a wonderful 4-0 win over Stoke City.

Football 365’s Daniel Storey thinks the title going to White Hart Lane could spell bad news for manager Arsene Wenger:

In a season that has seen the established order of the Premier League upset, Arsenal have fared better than the likes of Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea. Nevertheless, there’s a toxic feeling lingering around the Emirates Stadium and a huge sense of an opportunity missed.

Supporters have typically been split down the middle when it comes to the manager, but as John Cross reported in the Daily Mirror, there were plenty who opted not to hold back after the Palace draw. 

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“They told him to ‘f--k off’ and urged him to go now as the mood among fans has turned nasty at the Emirates,” reported Cross.

As Paul Hayward of the Daily Telegraph relayed here, the Gunners don’t seem to be quite up for the fight when it comes to the big occasions:

Indeed, when there is expectation this team can’t cope. A recent return to form saw the club put themselves back in with an outside chance of pushing for the title, but when there was an opening on Sunday after Leicester’s 2-2 draw with West Ham, the Gunners were held to a draw against Crystal Palace.

Arsenal were top of the league on the first day of 2016, so there’s certainly credence to the claims that they’ve tossed this title away. But it’s becoming a common theme for this manager and this group of players.