Arsenal will remain 'unfixable' until Arsene Wenger leaves, says Lee Dixon

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Alex Young @alexwsyoung7 November 2017

Lee Dixon believes Arsenal will not be "fixed" as long as Arsene Wenger remains in charge.

A 3-1 reverse to Premier League title favourites Manchester City leaves the Gunners in sixth, level on points with Burnley, and already 12 points behind Pep Guardiola's pace-setters.

Arsenal have won three of the previous four FA Cup Finals but are without the league title in over 13 years and have never won the Champions League.

Dixon has questioned Wenger's tactical approach, adding that players look clueless when defending, with the current squad unable to match their rivals' pressing game due to the manager.

"I honestly think they're unfixable under Arsene," Dixon said on BBC Radio 5 live. "What he's got there is he's created an environment which the players don't really know what they're doing without the ball.

"It's quite simple - when I watch them I think 'they could beat anyone on their day going forward, but they could lose to anyone defensively'. That summed it up at the weekend against City.

"The [Alexandre] Lacazette thing is another issue, as to why he's not playing, but you play [Alexis] Sanchez up front, who is a chaser of the ball; if he loses the ball then he'll chase to win it back.

"If you've got that, as a manager, you have to have the players to go and back that up, and he didn't have that. He hasn't got that because they don't know how to do that on a regular basis - they are not a pressing side.

"They do it now and again - they did it against Chelsea, they got it right against Chelsea in the cup final and in the league, and you think 'wow, they're back'. And then the fall again like they did against Watford, and then you see them trying to press Man City, one of the best passing sides in the league. How is that allowed to happen?

"If you're not a pressing side, then you have to press for months and years at a time in order to get it right, it's really difficult. It's not just a case of 'you all just rush to the ball'.

"They have to be triggers, and you need to know when to press - which is just as hard as knowing when not to press if you're a pressing side, because sometimes you have to unpress, if you like, and just sit where you are. Just running willy-nilly at the ball is a disaster, especially against City."

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