By Chris Wright
As this season continues to edge toward it’s pointy end, ex-Arsenal midfielder Emmauel Petit has suggested that his former club are on the brink of ‘cracking up’ under the mounting pressure after careening out of three competitions within the space of a fortnight.
Manu told the Sun:
“There seems to be a curse around the club at the moment. Arsenal’s key players seem to be cracking up.”
Petit also singled out Cesc Fabregas for special attention, insisting that the incumbent Gunners’ captain may need professional help in order to iron out the mental wrinkles that are currently hampering his form:
“You get the impression that some psychological work will need to be done on Fabregas. His recent performances have been below his usual standard. He seems to have a complex over his former club Barcelona.
Petit continued, querying whether Arsenal’s problem may be more deep-rooted, and that issues with the club’s academy may be to blame for their ominous lack of post-2005 silverware:
“I really hope Arsenal win the title because otherwise Arsene Wenger will have to ask himself questions and this pains me because I am an Arsenal fan.
“Wenger has gone in totally the opposite direction in the sense that, since 2005 and the departures of Vieira, Pires and company, he’s banking above all on a young, malleable team where he can invest in a sporting project.
“Arsenal’s game is a trademark on the pitch, it’s just that there are not really any players with a winning mentality.
“Players are playing against their nature a bit. Barcelona play exceptional football, from the age of six, seven, eight in the academies of Barcelona they teach you to play the same way – that’s not the case with Arsenal.
“Maybe that’s been the case for a few years in the football academy but I notice there are players we’ve known for a long time who are playing against their nature.
“There are players who try to play a bit in the image of Fabregas, when they don’t have the same qualities. Everyone has to bring something to the table, and that’s what I find with this Arsenal team, that some players are playing against their nature.”
The man talks sense, no?