Arsenal's season is going from bad to worse.
Today’s 2-1 defeat to Brighton means it’s now four defeats in a row in all competitions for the Gunners, the first time in 16 years this has happened.
Three of those losses have come in the league, leaving them 13 points back from the Champions League places. Realistically, the Europa League is now their only possible route into Europe’s elite competition next season. Given the way they’re playing at the moment, it’s hard to see them getting past AC Milan in the next two weeks.
Arsenal’s struggles were one of the major talking points yesterday on Premier League Live with Sky Sports, with Mark Lawrenson joining Philip Egan to discuss the future of Wenger at Arsenal.
Lawrenson says much of Arsenal’s current problems stem from Wenger having too much control over the club, with very little delegation creating an echo-chamber among his coaching staff.
“Arsene Wenger takes every single minute of every single training session with the first team squad. I’m not even really sure you’re allowed have an opinion if you’re on the coaching staff.
“He won’t have any dissent whatsoever. He is the real good cop, and he has big Steve Bould there, who I don’t think is even allowed to be the bad cop,” he said.
Wenger maintained he is the right man for the job following today’s defeat to Brighton, saying he has the experience to turn things around. Yesterday, Lawrenson added that the longer Wenger remains at the club, the further damage he’s doing to his legacy.
“He’s eroding day by day all the fantastic achievements. Not just the Invincibles team, winning the leagues, winning all the competitions they’ve won, but also the way they’ve played the football.
“In another 20 years when they write about the Premier League period when he was manager of Arsenal everyone will go, ‘The football was absolutely fantastic’. He made good players into very good players, very good players into world class players, and many, many of them. Day by day that’s been eroded by what’s happening on the pitch.”
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