Former Arsenal midfielder Samir Nasri has backed Arsene Wenger and claims the players should be blamed for the Gunners poor showing over the past few years, as per Sky Sports.
The North London club are placed fourth in the Premier League after consecutive losses to Watford and Chelsea over the past few weeks, while the Emirates were also thrashed 5-1 at the hands of Bayern Munich leaving them on the brink of elimination in the Champions League.
The poor showing over the past month has exerted immense pressure on Wenger, with many fans and critics asking the Frenchman to end his reign at the club.
His deal expires in the summer but there have been reports that the North London club have already offered Wenger a new deal.
Nasri who left the club back in 2011 to rivals Manchester City and is now on loan at Sevilla, feels the players and the board should also be held responsible for the current situation at Arsenal. Speaking exclusively to Sky Sports, he said:
“You cannot criticise a guy like that, it’s impossible. Arsenal was a big club, but he made it even bigger.”
“I just think people need to be fair. It’s not just because Arsenal doesn’t have success in the league it means it’s his fault. That is the players on the pitch (fault). The player doesn’t get the results.”
“It’s hard for me to say something, I owe him a lot of things. I came to the Premier League because of him. I had a good career because of him too, because he gave me confidence and made me a better player. And I just think that all the players that played with him, when they left they became a better player (than before they arrived).”
“I don’t think it is him, there are a lot of things at Arsenal – the board, the players. They need to be checked out and not just Arsene.”
There is definitely some truth in Nasri’s as Wenger’s players over the past decade have continuously underperformed and only blaming the Frenchman for their failures is definitely not right.
For example, let’s take this season, we looked unbeatable for few months last year and that’s not because Wenger played out some magic but due to the fact that the player’s contributed to their potential. Similarly, the current form should also be attributed to the fact that players like Ozil and Sanchez are nowhere near their best.
Wenger to a certain extent is also responsible, as he has been reluctant to drop his marquee players even when they are at their worst and when a manager does that, the players tend to relax. So everyone at the club should be blamed for the current situation, not just Wenger.
Do you agree with Nasri?
