Former Arsenal striker Robin van Persie has hit out at manager Unai Emery as he continues to struggle to get the Gunners looking at all convincing.
The north Londoners came back from 2-1 down to beat Vitoria 3-2 in the Europa League on Thursday night, with two late free-kicks from substitute Nicolas Pepe saving Emery as he looked to largely get it wrong again after Monday’s loss at Sheffield United.
Van Persie is clearly not too impressed with the Spanish tactician, who certainly hasn’t won over most fans since he replaced Arsene Wenger last summer.
MORE: Hector Bellerin sends thinly-veiled warning to Arsenal manager Unai Emery after Vitoria win
It remains to be seen if Emery will have much more time to try to stamp his philosophy down on this team, but Van Persie seems pessimistic about his chances of doing so.
Speaking as a pundit on BT Spot tonight, as quoted by the Daily Mirror, the Dutchman went on something of an anti-Emery rant, and also highlighted set pieces as a big problem for his old club.
“I don’t think that Emery really connects with his players. I think they’re still weak on set pieces, that was back in my time still a problem to be honest,” he said.
"I don't think Emery really connects with his players."
Are Arsenal improving under Unai Emery? ?
Robin van @Persie_Official doesn't think so and tells us exactly why… pic.twitter.com/GmbLwNimr4
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) October 24, 2019
“Last weekend they again conceded from a corner kick. I said it a couple of weeks ago as well, Arsenal lose 12-15 points per season by set pieces and that should stop.
“You have to sort it out, you have to find a way.
“You can see some players, and it’s not honest to judge the coach based on tonight, it’s based on the last couple of months and even the year before.”
He added: “I’ve had (Arsene) Wenger, Louis van Gaal, (Alex) Ferguson, so many coaches.
“Their main quality was to be clear. If I’m really honest, someone sent me a video of him (Emery) last week trying to explain something, and I couldn’t figure out if he was saying ‘come, come’ or ‘come!’.
“That is very important. You have to be clear, you have to be the leader and the leader needs to be clear towards his players.”