Emmanuel Petit has questioned Granit Xhaka's credentials as Arsenal captain in a scathing attack on the midfielder.
Xhaka has come in for criticism this season after some below-par displays and was even jeered by his own supporters during the win over Aston Villa.
The Switzerland midfielder was also withdrawn with 20 minutes to go of the defeat to Sheffield United on Monday.
Ex-Gunners star Petit has hit out at Xhaka and believes he is a far cry from Patrick Vieira, who was his captain in north London.
He told Paddy Power : "Can you imagine Patrick Vieira on the pitch on Monday night? He would have been shouting at his team-mates, asking them: 'What the f*** are you doing?'
"I don't see that with Xhaka. I do with Guendouzi - he's one of the few who shows he wants to win every game. He's got a lion's heart.
"Guendouzi is relied upon a lot by [Unai] Emery, and that's because he's showing anger on the pitch. He hates to lose games, you can see that he's ready to fight for every single ball. He plays to his strengths and he does that well.
"That's more than you can say for some of the other midfielders. Can anyone tell me what is Xhaka's best quality? I don't know why he has been made captain. The leadership is absent."
Arsenal return to action in the Europa League against on Thursday and Unai Emery accepts the criticism that is coming the way of his players.
"In my career it's normal to have difficult moments and criticism for our work and my job," he said.
"We are in one point of view. The supporters' opinion, we need to accept that.
"We need to think how we can... progress and achieve our targets. Immediately, that's to win tomorrow. In this competition we won two matches and played very well with very good results."
