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    Exclusive - George Graham claims Arsene Wenger must take blame for Arsenal's slide

    By Alex Varney | Monday, January 21, 2013

     

    George Graham claims Arsenal are paying the price for Arsene Wenger’s failure to adequately replace the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri and Robin van Persie.

    Wenger admits he is concerned the club will not qualify for the Champions League next season after a 2-1 defeat away to Chelsea left the Gunners seven points adrift of a top four spot in the Premier League.

    And Graham says the Frenchman must take full responsibility for the club’s recent failures, as he has failed to keep hold of his top stars and replaced them with players nowhere near as good as those that have exited the Emirates.

    “The guy has done a great job for Arsenal. He’s been the best Arsenal manager ever but over the last few years it has slowly been slipping away,” Graham said, speaking on the Sports Breakfast.

    “The quality of the players that are coming into the club are nowhere near the quality of the players leaving the club.

    “I don’t care how good a coach or manager you are, you need the quality players on the pitch, and the last few years the players coming in are just not up to it.

    I think Arsene has got to sit down and say ‘look, what did I do in my first period at the club, over the first seven, eight years, that I'm not doing now?— George Graham

    “I think Arsene has got to sit down and say ‘look, what did I do in my first period at the club, over the first seven, eight years, that I'm not doing now?’

    “He was the one that brought the outstanding players in at the beginning of his reign at Arsenal for very reasonable prices, sold the majority of them, and made a lot of money for Arsenal in the transfer market. He was outstanding. But what has happened since then? He’s got to look at himself."

    And Graham admits he was alarmed by the Gunners’ first-half display at Stamford Bridge on Sunday as Wenger’s men crashed to a second straight defeat.

    “I kept looking at the television to see if it was a local derby,” added the former Arsenal boss.

    “It wasn’t like a local derby. There were no challenges, no closing down, tackling was non-existent. Whatever talk Wenger gave at half time, he should have said before the game started.”