Arsenal: ‘Spoiled Brats’ Must Begin To Enact Change

Neil Lennon has lambasted Arsenal’s players, labelling them ‘spoiled brats’. While that may be harsh, they, under Arsene Wenger, must now enact change.

Here are some stats regarding Arsenal’s dismantling at the hands of Bayern Munich on Tuesday Night. I warn you, these are not pretty.

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It succumbed the Gunners to an exit at the last 16 stage for the seventh consecutive year: three times to Bayern, twice to Barcelona and once to AC Milan and Monaco. The 5-1 defeat on Tuesday is the largest margin of loss that Arsene Wenger’s side have suffered at the Emirates, beating Chelsea’s 4-1 win all the way back in 2009. The 10-2 aggregate loss is the second greatest margin of defeat in Champions League knockout history; only Bayern have bettered it, beating Sporting Lisbon 12-1 also in 2009.

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It was an embarrassment of catastrophic proportions. The reaction has been justifiably vociferous, from both the fans and the media. The latest man to lambast the players is former Celtic manager Neil Lennon. Speaking as a pundit for radio 5 live, Lennon stated:

"“This guy (Sanchez) has played at the highest level really intensely for the last four or five years and he’s not getting much back from the rest. It looks to me as if at times he carries Arsenal and he gives it everything. They look like a team of divas at times, they look like a team of spoiled brats. They throw in the towel too easy at times and that’s one thing you can’t point at Sanchez.”"

They are strong words indeed. But given the abject performances of the Gunners throughout the recent few weeks: the loss to Chelsea, the dismantling at Liverpool just last weekend and now the two 5-1 losses to Bayern, his strong opinion is merited. There is a soft, pushover character to the Arsenal squad, one that avoids conflict in order to improve, and it is in desperate need of change.

For some, these issues that have been prevalent for far too long, so much so, that their existence leads them to argue for the sacking of Wenger. Tuesday’s loss only adds credence to such thinking. While I would not apportion all the blame to Wenger as others would, that does not mean that I do not feel that nothing needs to change.

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There are many issues with this squad, with the club, with the organisation and the manager. Change must be enacted, otherwise, we could be suffering from yet more European hangovers in the near future.