Tony Adams has admitted he questions Arsenal's transfer policy and labelled them "average" without Thomas Partey in the side.
The Gunners' £45million summer signing Partey was forced to miss Sunday's trip to Leeds due to injury.
His team struggled in his absence, scraping a 0-0 draw after being reduced to 10 men early in the second half.
Nicolas Pepe was sent off for headbutting Leeds' Ezgjan Alioski, and the winger was one of the signings Adams called into question.
He told: Stadium Astro : "Bringing Partey in is amazing recruitment. Arteta is doing a fantastic job but I question recruitment.
"Willian, [Nicolas] Pepe, do we need them? Do we add in the right areas? Do we need a right-back?
“I think Gabriel has been another inclusion that has been brilliant, but I question [Emi] Martinez – the goalkeeper – that we let go. Recruitment is so important."
Willian was hailed as a decent acquisition following his free transfer from Chelsea, but has struggled to find his form this season, while it looks increasingly unlikely Pepe will live up to his £72million price tag.
But, on the other hand, Adams feels Partey looks to be every inch the player Arsenal have been looking for, and believes they are a different outfit when he's not involved.
“We have got another player like Patrick [Vieira]," he continued. "He was a legend and Partey might go on to be that, he is so impressive.
"It’s the first time in a long time that I have got excited about Arsenal recruitment.”
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He added: “We really missed Partey [vs Leeds]. Against Man United, we had some quality and stature in that central midfield area.
"It gave other players license to go and play. We didn’t have that, we looked very average.
“It was an in between performance of Villa, where we actually were destroyed on the full-backs, and the United game where we did amazing. We are inconsistent.”
