Gary Neville believes Arsenal’s recruitment in recent years has been “truly pathetic” - as well as blasting some of the club’s players as “uncoachable”.
Arsenal sacked head coach Unai Emery on Friday morning following a run of seven games without a win and fan unrest at the Emirates.
It has been a torrid start to the campaign for the Spaniard, who after spending big in the summer, was hoping to guide the club back into the Champions League.
But despite their poor start, Neville refused to solely blame Emery for the recent results and thinks poor recruitment and an "uncoachable" squad is the root of Arsenal’s problems.
“It’s been messy. The goal last week that we highlighted, where David Luiz was stepping up, and let’s be clear about this, some of these defenders are uncoachable. Let’s be clear about that,” Neville told Sky Sports News.
“I don’t know who has been responsible for recruitment at Arsenal over the last two or three years, it has obviously changed and new people have been brought in, but if I’m in the boardroom at Arsenal, I’d be giving that lot a right rocket watching some of the shambles.
“There’s no way Unai Emery is telling David Luiz to step up two or three times to step offside, or some of the hideous things you see from the other defenders and other midfield players at Arsenal.
“You think of Xhaka the other week, Emery is a man of honour and you see his behaviour. It must be something far deeper than the coach, Emery to be fair may be sailing over the shores of the channel this afternoon and very happy to leave behind what is quite simply a very average bunch of players.
“The coach will ultimately take the fall for it as always, that happens at football clubs and I’m well aware of that, but some of the things we have seen on the pitch are fancy football really. Without a shadow of a doubt the players have let him down.
“The manager will ultimately take the hit but some of those players, I’ve been critical of my old club for their recruitment process and strategy, but Arsenal’s is truly pathetic. You couldn’t find a more erratic pair of defenders, you just couldn’t. It’s almost as if it’s been the brief in the recruitment department.
“The players have let him down but I think some of them to be fair aren’t up to it, they’re not of the quality of Arsenal’s level and the coach has lost his job but Freddie Ljungberg picks up those players, let’s see if he can organise them into a defence that doesn’t concede shots and doesn’t concede goals.
“He might be able to do a better job in some ways on that front but it will be short lived because those players will let you down, 100%.”
