Arsenal’s most recent loss against Chelsea was Arsene Wenger’s fault due to his failure of tactical preparation, according to Alan Smith.
The ex-Arsenal striker, who netted 86 times for the Gunners, watched on as Antonio Conte’s Chelsea side eased past Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal at Stamford Bridge and described the game as being ‘groundhog day’.
Chelsea won comfortably 3-1 following a classy performance from Eden Hazard but rather than blaming the Arsenal players, Smith believes Wenger was the man who got it wrong and didn’t hold back from criticising the French manager.
“It is groundhog day,” he told TalkSport.
“They have a really good squad, but they don’t go out against teams like Chelsea properly prepared.
“That lays at his [Wenger’s] door.
“I’m not so much talking about mentality but in a tactical way.
“How are we going to stop Chelsea? How can we contain [Eden] Hazard and [Diego] Costa? IT’s been the same for years now.
“I think with the players they’ve got, there is a mentality issue that comes from the top.”
The pundit also used Hull City as an example of how a team should set up and play against an attacking side like Chelsea but he thinks Wenger is too stubborn to change his method.
Smith added: “We all know what Chelsea are going to do but it seems very off the cuff when Arsenal get the ball.
“I can’t believe Arsene [Wenger] doesn’t realise that. I covered the Chelsea-Hull game a few weeks ago and in the first-half Hull were so compact and organised.
“If someone like Hull can do that, why can’t Arsenal? But it’s not Arsene’s way.”
By Drew Darbyshire (@DarbySports)
