Former Arsenal defender Lee Dixon has raised serious question marks over Unai Emery as the Gunners continue to stumble this season.
Ahead of their clash with Southampton on Saturday, the north London giants are in sixth place in the Premier League table and sit eight points adrift of fourth spot.
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With the threat of missing out on Champions League football looming large again this season, it is unsurprisingly leading to doubts being raised over Emery’s ability to get them back to Europe’s top table.
Dixon has now had his say on the matter, and he believes that throwing money at the problem in January isn’t guaranteed to solve Arsenal’s issues moving forward, and he has outlined the problems that he has noticed with Emery which are holding Arsenal back from moving towards achieving their objective this season.
“It has not been good enough,” Dixon told the Express. “It is not his first season and so he cannot be cut any slack. 18 months in now everyone is looking at him. But we keep seeing a repeat of the mistakes. They keep getting hit on the break, giving the ball away, giving away chances.
“Things are not working. The question for Emery is – do you change the philosophy or do you change the players? He is at a crossroads.
“I’m not saying Emery should be sacked. Can they solve the problems by buying in January? What are the board seeing? They have given him a warning.
“Personally, if it was my money I would be reluctant to hand it over. To me they are a long way off. Buying a couple of players in January would not solve things.
“This next run of games is crucial for him. If they don’t get points and a place in the top four he is in trouble. That’s it for him.”
It’s difficult to disagree with him on his points made, and ultimately Emery has been backed in the transfer market to bring in key signings already. Having failed to convince even with new faces arriving, the Arsenal hierarchy may start to become a little apprehensive about giving the Spanish tactician more money and so time will tell what changes.
Arsenal do have a favourable fixture list in the coming weeks though as they face Southampton, Norwich City, Brighton and West Ham leading into the festive period, and so they’ll hope that is an opportunity they take to put together a winning run ahead of tougher tests to come in mid-to-late December.
Dixon knows all about what it takes to succeed with the Gunners having won four league titles and three FA Cups with the club during his playing days, and it’s fair to say from his comments above that he has his reservations over the current manager and squad being able to replicate that any time soon.
