Arsenal players must share blame with Arsene Wenger, says Nigel Winterburn
Thursday 16 February 2017 14:05, UK
Nigel Winterburn says Arsenal's players must take some responsibility for the "swell of support running against Arsene Wenger".
The manner of Wednesday's 5-1 defeat at Bayern Munich has left increasing numbers of supporters calling on their manager to go when his contract ends this summer.
Among the criticisms regularly levelled at Wenger is an accusation he fails to prime his teams adequately to cope with the threat posed by specific opponents.
But Winterburn, who won the domestic double under the Frenchman in 1998, says preparation for the Bayern game would have included work on the opposition.
And the Arsenal great told Sky Sports News HQ the players' lack of in-game management and willingness "to fall out, if needs be" is letting Wenger down.
He said: "When you work with Arsene Wenger you will walk through situations, what you think the opposition will do, defensively how you react.
"He will have done that [before Bayern] but when you're in real game time and things are happening very, very quickly the players on the pitch can't rely on what the manager has told them on the training pitch because certain situations may not arise.
"It's up to the players collectively to organise themselves and pull players back into midfield if they need to. Maybe push players out wider if they're being overloaded on the wide side.
"Arsene Wenger can't do that when he's on the touchline, players have to take responsibility to do it themselves."
Winterburn was one of Arsenal's old guard of defenders encouraged to play with more freedom when Wenger arrived, but he acknowledged a rethink might be required next season - if his old boss is still at the club.
He said: "At the end of the season, I think Arsene Wenger knows he'll have to sit down and have a real look at where he takes Arsenal Football Club or whether it's time to step aside.
"We know at the moment every time they lose a game of football the swell of support against Arsene Wenger is going to grow and grow.
"He is a manager that likes his teams to go out and entertain, and I think what's lacking at the moment is that real resilience when they don't gain possession of the ball enough.
"If he was to stay as manager he would have to have a look at maybe changing some personnel and maybe looking at a different direction."
