Arsene Wenger has been battered by former Gunners defender Lee Dixon, who says the Frenchman has created an environment where the players don’t know what they are doing.
Dixon was once playing under Arsene Wenger, and the respect between the duo must be fairly tight. However, the former defender’s latest comments show that even he believes something isn’t quite right at the Arsenal camp – a subject that divides opinion among fans.
Now a BBC pundit, Dixon believes that the current state of the club cannot be fixed by whilst Arsene Wenger is in charge, and points to the facts his players are clueless on what to do without the ball.
The Gunners sit 6th in the Premier League table, and are 12 points behind leaders Manchester City. It would take a miracle for them to catch the Sky Blues now, and even the top 4 looks like it is a tough position to attain this season.
Wenger’s side are already facing huge scrutiny after failing to reach the Champions League for the first time in two decades, and when asked what he thought the problem is under Wenger, Dixon told BBC 5 live: “I honestly think they’re unfixable under Arsene. What he’s got there is he’s created an environment which the players don’t really know what they’re doing without the ball.
“It’s quite simple – when I watch them I think ‘they could beat anyone on their day going forward, but they could lose to anyone defensively’. That summed it up at the weekend against City. The Lacazette thing is another issue, as to why he’s not playing, but you play Sanchez up front, who is a chaser of the ball; if he loses the ball then he’ll chase to win it back.
“If you’ve got that, as a manager, you have to have the players to go and back that up, and he didn’t have that. He hasn’t got that because they don’t know how to do that on a regular basis – they are not a pressing side.
“They do it now and again – they did it against Chelsea, they got it right against Chelsea in the cup final and in the league, and you think ‘wow, they’re back’. And then the fall again like they did against Watford, and then you see them trying to press Man City, one of the best passing sides in the league. How is that allowed to happen?
“If you’re not a pressing side, then you have to press for months and years at a time in order to get it right, it’s really difficult. It’s not just a case of ‘you all just rush to the ball’.
“They have to be triggers, and you need to know when to press – which is just as hard as knowing when not to press if you’re a pressing side, because sometimes you have to unpress, if you like, and just sit where you are. Just running willy-nilly at the ball is a disaster, especially against City.”