Former Arsenal winger Gervinho has slammed manager Arsene Wenger for losing faith in his last season.
Since signing for the London club back in 2011 from French side Lille, the Ivorian endured a mixed time at the Emirates Stadium and despite starting the 2012/2013 season positively, he couldn’t continue his early-season form and was left as a fringe player for the rest of the campaign.
The winger, who cost the club £11million, could not break down the competition with Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Lukas Podolski which eventually lead to him leaving the club in order to join Italian side Roma.
After the transfer, Wenger put it down to the player losing confidence in his own ability, but Gervinho believes the manager lost faith in him.
‘Wenger’s one of the great coaches. He’s someone I have great respect for and I’m also very happy to have been able to play for his club,’ said Gervinho.
‘I think forwards need to feed on the confidence of their managers, I would have preferred to have that chance.
‘I really enjoyed playing for that club. It’s true that I did not think I would leave after two seasons, but I’m pretty happy.
‘I don’t really agree with the thought that everything was negative for me at Arsenal. I reckon I could have done better if the circumstances were different, I need a lot of playing time and that’s why I decided to leave the club.’
Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt
