Stan Collymore has claimed that Arsene Wenger will never supply his Arsenal team with the grit and bottle that the Premier League demands.
The Gunners have gone from Premier League challengers year-in year-out, to ‘Invincibles’, but more recently have fallen to be known as the ‘fourth best’ team in the division, and are currently at risk of missing out on the top four of the Premier League in consecutive seasons.
Our club has moved to bring in some new faces in the latest transfer window, with the experienced and talented duo of Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang joining our ranks, but former professional Stan Collymore insists that the changes to the squad will not change the dynamic of the team.
“Arsenal have some new faces, but still have the same old problems,” the former Liverpool striker said.
“They will continue to win well, but also to lose to teams they are not expected to.
“Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is the real deal and will score a goal every other game.
“But so have many players such as Alexis Sanchez and Robin van Persie.
“Nobody ever said Arsenal don’t have talent. Just that they don’t have bottle. Aubameyang will not give them that.
“They need a return to when their team was a combination of luxury players, old pros and youngsters.
“But Arsene Wenger believes in lovely young boys who play fancy five-a-side on an 11-a-side pitch. And that will continue as long as he is in charge.
“He won’t mix talent with the graft, bottle and dirty work that the Premier League demands.
“That is bizarre as his most famous team – The Invincibles – had that in abundance.”
The likes of Granit Xhaka and Sead Kolasinac could definitely add some grit to our starting XI, but Wenger already seems to be happy to demote the Bosnian in favour of youth product Ainsley Maitland-Niles.
Our new additions certainly look to have brought improvement to our team, and will hopefully be the impetus for a strong ending to the campaign, but does our team still lack the ‘bottle and dirty work’ that the division demands?
Pat J