Arsenal legend Ian Wright is the latest ex-Gunner to question some of the decision making from those in charge of his old club.
In the wake of witnessing his former side receive a brutal 5-0 drubbing at the hands of reigning champions Manchester City, Wright expressed his concerns over the Gunners recruitment strategy as well as the club's handling of talented young central defender William Saliba.
Mikel Arteta's side barely laid a glove on their hosts as City brushed Arsenal aside in rampant fashion, going into the interval 3-0 up with the numerical advantage after Granit Xhaka received a red card in the 35th minute for a reckless lunge on Joao Cancelo.
The Arsenal boss's decision to utilise a back three formation with Sead Kolasinac as the left centre back also caused a stir among the Gunners faithful given Kolasinac is being offered to a number of sides across Europe as the club trying to offload his hefty wages.
Wright was one of those berating the decision to start Kolasinac, claiming that if Saliba can not get into the Arsenal line-up ahead of the Bosnian then he may not have been worth buying at all.
"You’ve got to show Mahrez down the line, Kieran Tierney lets him come inside and look how easy that is for Ferran Torres to go in there, in between the centre-backs, no-one is picking him up. Too easy," the Arsenal legend told Premier League Productions.
"I think between the goalkeepers and the central defenders it’s all too easy. And I’m supposed to believe that Kolasinac – someone that they’re trying to get rid of – is better than William Saliba?
"Saliba, who is out on loan and apparently not at the standard [required for this level]. So if he’s not at the standard to play in this team – and Kolasinac can play – why have we bought him?! Because if Kolasinac can play in front of him, what’s going on?! Why have we bought him?"
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Saliba's move to Arsenal has been confusing to say the least, the Frenchman putting pen to paper on a deal with the Gunners in the summer of 2019 - while Unai Emery was still in charge, but it yet to actually make a competitive appearance for the club.
Wright did not let Arteta get away without any criticism, slamming the Spaniard as he bemoaned: "I’d like to think the players got a little bit of a blasting. But saying that, I think a lot of it should be at his [Arteta’s] door as well.
"He knows exactly what to expect from Man City, we need to be a lot more organised playing against a team where the margin for error is so small. And we didn’t. We didn’t look organised enough, nowhere near enough."
