Former Arsenal defender Sol Campbell has had his say on his old club and given his opinion on why they keep falling short every year.
The Gunners suffered defeats to Watford and Chelsea last week to all-but see their Premier League title hopes go up in smoke.
With another year set to go by without a league trophy and with Arsene Wenger facing the brunt of criticism, Campbell believes that others have to take responsibility too.
The former England international won two Premier League titles with Arsenal along with three FA Cups while reaching the Champions League final.
With the likes of Tony Adams, Martin Keown and Patrick Vieira alongside him, the defensive ace has insisted that leadership was crucial, and he doesn’t see enough of it in this current Arsenal squad to show that they have the strength and mentality to win.
“I don’t know what’s happening now, but when I was there we used to police it ourselves. We had the characters to police it ourselves,” Campbell told Sky Sports.
“And we had the characters you know would say something, Patrick would say something, Tony, Martin Keown, David Seaman, all these guys, from the front Thierry, Dennis Bergkamp, all these guys would chip in on the pitch while the game was going on. That’s the key, you’ve got to have those characters on the pitch.”
Campbell went on to insist that Arsenal now face a real fight to finish in the top four, with Manchester United now on a good run and breathing down their necks.
Wenger has finished in the top four in the Premier League every season since he was appointed in 1996, and with his contract expiring in the summer, the last thing he will want to see is that proud record tarnished.
There is little Arsenal can do now about adding leadership as they’ll hope that it’s within the current group to get their season back on track. With the top four, the FA Cup and the Champions League still to play for, they will have to show their resolve and bounce back quickly.