Frank McAvennie has blasted Arsenal players for thinking too highly of themselves and he says they will keep missing out on their transfer targets.
The Gunners remain one of England’s traditional big clubs, but they have been finishing outside the top four since 2018 and finished outside the European places last season.
They want to rebuild their squad, but they have been struggling to secure their transfer targets.
They have just missed out on Emi Buendia who joined Aston Villa instead and they could be set to miss out on the signing of Odsonne Edouard, who looks to prefer a reunion with Brendan Rodgers at Leicester City.
Former West Ham man, McAvennie, says Arsenal is filled with players who think too highly of themselves and believes that they are superstars, but they are not.
He says the gap between them and England’s top teams keeps widening and why would a player want to join their sinking ship.
“Arsenal have never been that much of an attractive option to me,” McAvennie told Football Insider.
“They have too many duds. They have a lot of players who think they are better than they actually are.
“Half of their team is like that. They all think they are superstars and they aren’t. Really, they aren’t even close.
“They don’t play together, they aren’t really a team. The gap is getting further between them and those top clubs.
“Why would a decent player want to join that?”
The only reasonable part of the entire quote is that our players don’t play as a team.
So you disagree with the fact that our players think too highly of themselves? Tell me how much are we selling our best midfielder please. I think 85% of the article is right Eleven though it hurts to acknowledge it…
You wasted your time writing this.
This guy was an awful player, he could not lace our player boots. Another irrelevant has been, with an inflated sense of his own importance!!
Frank who ?!?
Who bloody told him we lost out on Buendia; or that we have an interest in Eduardo?
It’s all bile and nothing else from thi bloke
Does anybody even care what this has been of a player thinks, I saw him play and he was crap. Just trying to get himself noticed by saying something controversial.
Please is buendia now world class ….I laugh in swahili but if he comes to arsenal he wud ve been called average….Nonsense jobless pundit seeking for attentions….am not blaming u all this rubbish was caused by our so called legends….Paul Merson,Thierry Henry,ray parlour and keown
There is some merit to his comments. The way Xhaka has been talking, you’d think he was a guy with multiple league titles. Certainly wouldn’t surprise me if a few others in the squad or recently departed were similarly minded. Bellerin and Leno being plausible examples
Even if we downgrade hence….Aston villa&Everton can sign quality prayer like James Rodriguez,Allan,Richardson,Dacoure etc
Arsenal can attract&sign anybody even mbappe….if they can pay mbappe £500 u will see him in red&white what them players want is money….so attention seeker….shot ur f^cking smelling mouth up.Go and coach national leaguevents.At least arteta have proved himself…even if get sacked.He is done with FACEBOOK CUP AND CHARITY SHIELD…U shud be ashamed of talking….I can’t even see ur profile as ex player.mugus
Mean FA CUP
The players are stars whether Frank whatever likes it or not..
Aubameyang top 15 strikers in Europe for years
Lacazette top 15 back up strikers in Europe
Pepe top 15 left footed wingers in Europe ( was a huge star back in France)
Willian. Now old but is a star that has achieved a lot and is passed his prime
ESR, Saka, martinelli top 50 young talents in the world.
Xhaka.. Swiss captain, CIES best eleven 2021
Partey top 15 Defensive midfielders in Europe
Mari was in top 5 best defenders in South America a while back
Tierney,Gabriel,bellerin,holding are decent players
Leno… good enough to beat several German goalies to a national team slot..
Individually we have players good enough to challenge(can u statistically compare a martial,Werner,Antonio,firmino, Gabriel Jesus to aubameyang???) but as a team we lack so many things.
The issue is arteta is a rookie and not an A-list manager as he thinks and he aint in the top 50 best managers in Europe,
With time the team would get sorted out, if only arteta learns quickly and do away with arrogance & pride..
Even nketiah is the best ever English u-21 striker …willock broke records last season…
All we need is a system that let’s these stars shine just as tuchel transformed the lampard clueless team to a ucl winning team..
💯 percent agreed
The truth hurts. The talent is there in the squad, it is just a matter of augmenting it with right transfers to address deficient positions and managing it properly with a focus on a winning mentality. It is results which show how good you are, not self importance or hype. The table does not lie.
Exactly… Arteta.. With poor man management skills..
But I hope our absence in Europe will happen us have a best consistent first 11
We should be elated that such comments are being publicly expressed, regardless of the source, as this management team needs to be motivated by any means necessary…furthermore, most of his comments were, in essence, truthful
I just read his football history and that apart I fundamentally disagree with your constant swipes. Relentless pummelling. I at least look forward to seeing what our crap manager and his boss sign us up to when it actually happens
is this directed towards me, SueP?
SueP, very dissapointed that you called our manager c***! In six months he won us the FA. Something a decorated manager like Carlo Anchelotti could not do at Everton. He made decent signings – Marri, Partey, Gabriel.(Willian was decent at the time of signing at CFC too). Improved ESR, Saka, Tierney, Chambers. Got rid of nuisance makers who were hell bent on lowering the club. Remember we were closer to relegation because of these duds, and he as brave as he was, he did the right thing and flushed out the c*** players and we finished 8th, had it not been to Leno’s blunders and Laca’s / Auba’s missed sitters and Luiz/Xhaka’s unwanted free kicks in dangerous areas we could have been better than top six. Rememeber a football coach is as good as the team he has just like formula drivers. That explains why world champions – Vettel, Alonso, Raikonen failed! Why did Anchelotti leave Everton for Madrid? Why did Conte turn down Spurs? Why did Allegiri wait for the Juve job?If our players were superstars as they think they are, how come Emery lost his only EL final with us? Some fans are too arrogant to accept the fact that while the team looks good on paper, they have no determination and grit to protect 1-0 leads or turn a 1-1 to a 2-1 win or a 0-2 to a 2-2 or 3-2 win. I’d rather have Arteta lace his boots and take to pitch again rather than see the likes of Elneny or Xhaka.
Loose cannon
I’m sorry if my sarcasm was misinterpreted as I have supported Arteta. I lost it a fair bit after Villarreal. I realise that all the so called top men wouldn’t jump at the chance to join us. I wrote an article on JA about who’d realistically step into Arteta’s shoes and Nagelsmann was about the only one apart from Benitez. I and others have been vilified for supporting him. He has to hit the ground running at the beginning of the season because I do think he has had long enough to gain sufficient experience.
TRVL
It was aimed at you. I was annoyed because you write so eloquently but it is nearly always negative. Sorry 😞 I may have been a bit harsh but it got to me
Good old wise and shrewd fan Sue P. You rarely miss the real point Sue and once again you hit it spot on here. I would say though that irony when used on here has to be used with a sledgehammer, as so many fans are not bright enough to recognise it otherwise.
You stance on MA entirely accords with mine. When using irony, I prefer to use quote marks around the key word or phrase, so that it is clear to those not so quick on the uptake.
No worries, I have no qualm with those who hold contrarian views, but it did seem a little excessive considering the relatively innocuous nature of my comment
sadly, Wenger had cultivated a largely fictitious “us against the world” narrative in the years following our move to the Emirates…he was well-aware that his preferred self-sustaining business model, in light of the new build, was going to lead to some leaner years and as such we were bound to hear some far more negative critiques than in the previous decade or so…by creating this sort of conspiratorial notion, it actually provided a built-in excuse when it came time to explain away any negative comments…this same nonsense has been directed towards game officials, for a similarly contrived purpose
this attempt to deflect and disparage anyone who dared to provide a contrarian opinion was such an effective measure that many fans even lashed out against former Gunners, who had entered the punditry ranks, following their respective retirements, and chastised the club or it’s manager for a myriad of issues…as long as this fingering pointing mindset still exists the impetus for the club to act in a responsible fashion will be non-existent
.
Shame,arsenal snub him and he is very jealous of our players. Had it been some stupid point we lost on necessary last season, we could have made top 4 or 5 at least.
there is an awful lot of truth in what, this less than average player,in his day, has to say.the truth hurts, and the proof is all around us. players are not inclined to come to us, unless we pay them higher wages. that is never good because we suddenly become a mercenary club of wannabees and hasbeens.not one of our current team would get a place in the top 4 teams at the moment, not one.nobody plays with their heart for us anymore , with the exception of saka.
👍 I’ve seen comments on here stating exactly what this guy has said – so it’s alright for us to say it, but when someone else does the dummy is well and truly thrown!!
It’s like criticising your own family Sue.We are allowed to do it but take it as an insult if someone from the outside does it even if there is some truth in what they say.
John But do you not see that fact – with which I concur- is not helpful to being true to yourself? Truth is truth, no matter who says it, Id say! Just as lies are lies no matter who says them too.
This very subject supports my lifelong stance that we – all humans – are prone to double standards and thus we are hypocrites. Further than this, Id say this is normal and natural human behaviour. BUT we have the power, IF we choose to use it , to rise above it and seek truth , from WHEREVER AND FROM WHOEVER speaks it.
Without seeking real truth, we continue to stumble in the dark , metaphorically speaking.
Yes, John, there was a fascinating interview on the Nihal show on radio 5 that can still be listened to online with Gillian Tett the financial expert and Anthropologist on 8/6/20 that you might find interesting as it has some relevance to what you are saying.
We must believe that Arsenal problem(s) is knot really the prideness of the players but the hierachy.Arsenal must change their owner. Else,many years to come,they will remain thesame or go down more.it’s knot a prayer but the pschology.Let them see example from the Chelsea owner(Roman Abramovic).
Mean guy. Full of envy
How stupid! Was Osdonne an Arsenal target? How would you claim he will chose Leicester over Arsenal when Arsenal didn’t even approach him.
McAvennie should direct his comments to perennial failures… those that NEVER qualify for Europe and those that don’t wing trophies. That covers most of the EPL. Arsenal are not one of them. His playing record aint that impressive. The highest level he reached was playing for West ham. 2nd highest was playing for Scotland.
Except for the statement on teamwork I wouldnt agree much with the article. However the fact remains that MA should stop his obsession with certain underperforming players and give more chances to youngsters, prime examples being Balogun and Martinelli, both of whom were underused last season. Also I agree on the determination or rather lack of it amongst our players and except for Saka, ESR and Tierney I have not seen much passion amongst other players, MA should address that first and foremost and we musth make good signings in the CM and CAM position for any chance of European football next season.
I don’t think chelsea, Liverpool and united got this kind of sticks when they came 8th, 7th… on the log or when united played well but also couldn’t win a trophy for more than a season. Heaven will come, earth will too if the owners are ready to spend and be brutal with their decisions. Never the less, if arsenal finished top 4 next season, you people will still shout, why not winning it. Every team has bad periods, it took Liverpool how many years to win EPL? AC millan, Valencia, Lyon……, Arsenal will rise again.
Wise fans will disregard their feelings of insult by a player who has had no connection with us and look instead at the actual sound sense that McAvennie said.
The ability to separate hurt feelings at a pertinent comment from someone unconnected to us, from recognising the clear truth in his statement, is not given to all, sadly.
Who is he. How well did he play as a player. He was dead wrong. Arsenal has always been a great club.
A bit better than the English national team who haven’t won anything for 55 years !
The players should wake up