The Arsenal football club piling on from former Gunners continues. Just yesterday, Arsenal star Mesut Ozil celebrated the fourth anniversary of his move to the Emirates with a long Facebook post answering critics of both himself and the club in general. Ozil called on club legends to quit bad-mouthing the team and start showing some support.
Well, the German certainly will not like what former Arsenal midfielder Emmanuel Petit had to say in the Daily Mirror today.
The French midfielder, who scored nine goals in 85 appearances with the club from 1997-2000, says the current players are lacking motivation and acting like “babies and kids.” Petit is leveling the same kind of criticism that’s pervasive right now regarding this squad. Many observers are calling out what they see as a lack of fire and passion for the game on the pitch.
Arsenal took just three points, sporting a -4 goal differential from their first three league games. Many believed their appeared especially listless in a 4-0 trouncing at the hands of Liverpool, their final game before the international break, which gave everybody more time to talk about it.
Petit said in the Sunday edition of the Mirror:
“When I see them play they seem to play without motivation. The blame is put on Arsene, but I cannot see that it is all down to him. Why should it be?”
“Why should a player need motivating to play for one of the biggest clubs in the world, in one of the best stadiums in the world? Some of them do not seem to know what it means to wear that Arsenal shirt.”
“They get good money to play for a club like Arsenal. Yet, so few of them look happy and motivated. How can that be?”
“Someone should sit them down and tell them not to act like babies and kids. They should be proud of wearing that Arsenal shirt.”
“Many of those players do not seem to realise how lucky they are to be at the club. I just want to shake the tree and tell them how fortunate they are to play at a club of Arsenal’s standing. If Arsenal are to achieve anything this season, then the motivation must come back into the team. And the players have to be responsible for that.”
It’s very early of course, but Arsenal are now sitting at 16th place in the table. They return to action in six days against AFC Bournemouth.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now and Minute Media. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
Follow him on Twitter, Instagram, Sound Cloud, LinkedIn and YouTube.