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Former Arsenal defender Lee Dixon was scathing in his criticism of manager Arsene Wenger, suggesting the long-serving boss was “floundering” in charge and is to blame for the club’s current demise.

Arsenal are sixth in the Premier League, 33 points off top and 13 points off the top-four. The Gunners look likely to miss out on Champions League football as a result of their woeful form in 2017/18, and Dixon says Wenger is to blame.

The club legend, who made over 600 appearances in all competitions, believes the French manager isn’t a good coach, which is why players haven’t developed in recent years.

Dixon was speaking at Arsenal’s Annual General Meeting about the current situation and said: “Wenger’s downfall is that he is not a true coach. It would be wrong to say Arsene doesn’t know what he’s doing, but he’s floundering now as everyone has caught up.”

With the likes of Petr Cech, Hector Bellerin, Shkodran Mustafi, Granit Xhaka and Mesut Ozil being so inconsistent this season, Wenger has been criticised for not managing the side correctly. Dixon also took aim at the 68-year-old for his recruitment this campaign.

Arsenal signed Sead Kolasinac, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Kolasinac and Mavropanos have struggled for playing time, while Lacazette has been short of goals.

He added: “Wenger recruited some great players Kolo Toure, Sol, Thierry Henry. But Mustafi? I spoke to Gary Neville who said Valencia couldn’t give him away. Then Arsenal came along and paid £30m for him. 
“I didn’t think the players that Wenger brought in are good enough. Six of the current starting XI aren’t good enough. But I thought give them a chance, if they get coached and trained to improve.”
Despite having just shy of 18 months left on his contract, there’s a growing feeling that Wenger could exit his post early.

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