Ex-Gunners midfielderPaul Merson has claimed that Arsenal pair Alexis Sanchez and Petr Cech are lucky not to have been handed a three-month ban by boss Arsene Wenger, following their behaviour duringthe team'smost-recent 5-1 loss to Bayern Munich.
Arsenal were dumped out of the Champions League on Tuesday night after a humiliating 10-2 defeat on aggregate across both legs - it was the club's seventh season in a row in which they have crashed out of the competition at the last-16 stage.
During the second-leg defeat, Sanchez and Cech appearedto be laughing on the substitute's bench, andMerson has said thathe would never have got away with that during his time at the club.
Alexis Sánchez parece esbozar una sonrisa con Petr Čech después del quinto gol de Bayern Munich. Sin palabras. Crisis total en Arsenal. pic.twitter.com/IXjzbYKDzv
Writing in hisDaily Starcolumn, he said: "Look at what happened on the bench with Alexis Sanchez and Petr Cech, laughing and joking. It's not hurting them, is it?
"If it was, you wouldn't be laughing and joking about it. They were getting a hiding. Show a bit of pride! They're being paid £200,000 a week. Don't laugh and joke.
"Arsenal fans deserve more, and they have a right to be angry"
Merson also said that former Arsenal manager George Graham wouldn't have hesitated to slap him with a three-month ban if he was seen reacting in the same way.
He added: "If that was George Graham in charge and I'd been sat there laughing while we were being embarrassed, I wouldn't have played for three months."
The recent actions of Sanchez has further added to speculation that he may be on his way out of the Emirates next season.
This latest controversyfollows Wenger's decision to keep him on the bench for the first half of their 3-1 league defeat to Liverpool last weekend, after a rumoured training ground bust up took place.