Ex-Gunner slams Arsenal players for being on “vacation”, calls on Arteta to sell “half of the dressing room”

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Former Arsenal midfielder Emmanuel Petit has slammed a number of the club’s current players for treating their time at the Emirates Stadium like a vacation.

The Frenchman was a star player for Arsenal during Arsene Wenger’s reign, winning the Premier League title in the 1997/98 season, so he should have a fair amount of knowledge about what it takes to be successful for the Gunners.

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It seems clear Petit is far from impressed with this current Arsenal side, who were beaten 3-0 at home to Liverpool over the weekend to majorly dent their hopes of even finishing in a European place this season.

Something needs to change at Arsenal, and many fans will be questioning manager Mikel Arteta after his struggles in north London.

It seems, however, that Petit, speaking exclusively to Ladbrokes at its launch of the 5-A-Side Bet on Crystal Palace v Chelsea, lays the blame at the door of some of the players, as he believes a number of the more experienced members of the squad are treating life at the club like a holiday.

“I still believe they have some quality players available to them – do I think they have many quality players? No,” Petit said.

“They have a good group of young players, though that are still learning. I think some of those youngsters can become very good in years from now – but to do that, they need to see an example being set by the senior players.

“It shouldn’t be at a club like Arsenal that the younger players are the only ones showing passion, fight and aggression. It needs to come from the older players who should lead by example.

“When I look at the older players in the team, it’s like they think it’s a retreat football club, somewhere you just go for a vacation. They have ambition, but I don’t really expect them to win big games anymore.

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“If you took away the name ‘Arsenal’ and looked at that group of players… average.

“At the end of the season, if I’m Arsenal, if I’m Arteta, if I’m on the board, to be honest with you, I think my main concern is getting half of the dressing room out. Honestly.”

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