Arsenal scout Gilles Grimandi slams 'sensationalist' Arsene Wenger criticism from former team-mates

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James Benge8 March 2018

Arsenal scout Gilles Grimandi has bemoaned the “sensationalist” criticism of Arsene Wenger by his former team-mates such as Thierry Henry and Martin Keown.

Wenger’s side have endured a dramatic slump in fortunes since the start of 2018, losing eight games in all competitions including all of their last four.

That run of form has piled renewed pressure on Wenger, who told Standard Sport after Sunday’s 2-1 defeat at Brighton that he was convinced he was still the right man to arrest Arsenal’s slump. However a host of pundits, including former players such as Ian Wright, have claimed otherwise.

Henry has declared his interest for the job should Wenger leave, though he has avoided publically calling for his former manager to go. Meanwhile Keown has said that the Frenchman “would have been sacked” if he had only been at Arsenal since the start of the season.

​Grimandi, who made 114 appearances for Arsenal between 1997 and 2002 and has served as their chief scout in France for over a decade, insists that such comments betray a lack of understanding from two players who have never managed a senior competivie match.

“It makes me sad because guys like Thierry or Martin, I like them, I have a good relationship with them, but some of them take a sensationalist path and I don't like that,” Grimandi told L’Equipe.

“I want to say three things to all the former players who have become pundits. Firstly, you mustn't have a short memory – they owe a lot to Arsene, and they have sometimes done all they can to get back into the club after the end of their playing career.

“Also, they should respect Arsene's commitment to the club, the fact that he works like a madman every day.

“Arsene takes strategic decisions for Arsenal every day. Finally, I want to say to them: ‘Get stuck in! Today, you're in a judgemental role, but commit yourselves to a club and you'll see it's not simple.’”

Perhaps the most stinging criticism of Arsenal of late has come from those who have proclaimed that Wenger’s football, once admired across the continent, is no longer a joy to behold.

However Grimandi is convinced Wenger, who last year abandoned a four-man defence for the first time in his 21-year Arsenal reign, has the adaptability to change his gameplan to reflect the realities of the Premier League in 2018.

“What's true is that possession guaranteed you results in the Premier League and today it's no longer true. So you have to adapt,” he said.

“But a coach is judged over the long term. People have called Arsene an avant-garde coach for a long time, because he was able to identify a clear style of play at Arsenal, and now he's supposed to be all at sea in that area? That makes no sense.”

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