Arsenal have lost their identity and are going nowhere under Mikel Arteta, believes talkSPORT pundit Jamie O’Hara.
The pressure is piling on the manager after the Gunners’ winless Premier League win was extended to SIX games with a 1-1 draw with Southampton at home on Wednesday night.
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The result means Arsenal are now TEN league games without a clean sheet – the club’s longest run since their move to the Emirates Stadium in 2006.
It also left the north London club in 15th as we approach the Christmas period, with Arteta facing a dark festive period which begins with a trip to fifth-placed Everton next.
O’Hara insists the players should shoulder a lot of the blame for their miserable run, saying the ill-disciplined Arsenal team – with Gabriel the latest Gunner to see red in the draw with the Saints – are ‘KILLING’ their manager.
But the former Tottenham midfielder claims another defeat or draw when they travel to Goodison Park at the weekend should signal the end of Arteta’s reign.
“What is going on at Arsenal? They’re having an absolute nightmare,” he said on Thursday’s talkSPORT Breakfast.
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“I think that result keeps Arteta in the job, for now, but if they lose against Everton next… I think he’s got to go.
“You’re not Newcastle, you’re not Palace, this is Arsenal, one of the biggest clubs in the world, it is not acceptable to be 15th in the league.
“They’ve got no leaders, and we can blame Arteta – that’s always the way – but those players are absolutely killing him with their performances.
“They’re just not good enough, players are getting sent off every week, and there are players on big money who need to be performing, but they are letting the club down massively.
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“They’re so far off it and they’ve lost all sorts of identity and who they are as a team. I don’t know where they’re going.
“I like Arteta, and when he first came in he got performances out of them, they won the FA Cup and they look like they’re moving forward.
“But the performances this season, and from big players as well, they’ve just looked like they’ve downed tools. And the ill discipline again, that all comes, in my opinion, from the manager.
Arsenal manager win rates in the league:
Arsene Wenger: 58%
Unai Emery: 49%
George Graham: 46% (1986-1995)
Bruce Rioch: 45%
Mikel Arteta: 39%
“You’ve got to instil a mentality in the side, and they just haven’t got it. There’s no winning mentality at Arsenal any more.
“They’ve got Everton next and that’s a very tough game. They’re in good form, they’re organised and they’ve got a top manager.
“I always said Arsenal should have gone for someone like Carlo Ancelotti, but he went to Everton and Arteta got the job, and it hasn’t worked out.
“How long do you leave it? I don’t see them improving, I don’t see the revolution people have talked about.”
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