GUNNERS NEED A REVOLUTION

Legend Petit insists urgent change is essential at Arsenal as the club did nothing after sacking Wenger and risk ending Emery’s honeymoon early

EMMANUEL PETIT claims Unai Emery is producing “the same old story” that Arsenal had under Arsene Wenger.

Petit says Emery needs to completely rebuild the squad as it is not good enough defensively, lacks team spirit and they even got “lucky” during their unbeaten run earlier in the season.

The Gunners legend now fears the mood could quickly change against Emery, even though the Arsenal manager has no cash to rebuild the squad, which was already failing under Wenger.

Petit said: “It’s like Wenger is out, but I have the feeling that it’s the same old story. I think we were expecting more from the club – I am disappointed.

“You are telling me that Emery has the same problems Wenger had. Nothing has changed. So why did they sack Arsene?

“If you sack the manager, you need to start a revolution. But I ask, why did they sack Arsene? If someone can give me the answer, then I’ll be very happy.

“If you don’t give the control to Emery, allow him to oversee a revolution, give him the power to bring in new players to help him change the style on the pitch, then why create all of this mess?

“This team is not good enough to fight for the title. This team is strong enough to fight for third or fourth place and that’s it. They’ve been like that for years and years.

“I don’t see many changes, in terms of how the team plays, since Wenger left. I’m still confident with Emery, he’s a talented manager, but he needs to pick his own players as well.”

Petit believes the problems run deep through the Arsenal squad as they lack creativity in midfield, desire among the players and are in serious danger of the season petering out into disappointment.

They face Chelsea on Saturday already six points behind their London rivals, who are in fourth place, and Petit believes another defeat would effectively end Arsenal’s hopes of finishing in the Champions League spots. He said: “It’s a must-win for Arsenal. They had a long run of games without defeat, I saw every game since the start of the season and, in many games, they were lucky.

“I was happy with the feeling coming back into the club. But I was not naive and I was sure that the problems would come back – especially in defence.

“I watched the last game against West Ham and I was thinking, ‘How can you put (Aaron) Ramsey on the bench and leave (Mesut) Ozil at home, knowing that you have no creative midfielders?’ Everything is on the shoulders of (Pierre-emerick) Aubameyang and (Alexandre) Lacazette to score goals. And, for a club like Arsenal, that’s not good enough.

“It’s about having characters in the team. Look at Liverpool, the personality of the team, the desire, the anger,” added Petit. “They fight for the ball every time. That’s what you need to compete at the highest level.

“If you look at the big clubs, it’s all about desire. When you don’t have the ball, it’s about the desire to get it back – it’s that simple. When I watched Arsenal in the Tottenham game when they won, I saw a team on the pitch. Not individuals, a team spirit.

“That’s what has been missing for ages. If they can get that back, they can have a good season.

“But if they think individuals like Lacazette and Aubameyang can win games by themselves, then it’s a big mistake.

“If they don’t win against Chelsea on Saturday, it will be hard to see them reaching the top four.

“And when I look at the teams left in the Europa League… well, good luck.”

EMMANUEL PETIT is a Paddy Power ambassador. Read his columns at news. paddypower.com