Former Arsenal striker Paul Mariner has claimed the Gunners season is in tatters and blames chief executive Ivan Gazidis and manager Arsene Wenger for things spiralling.

Mariner, who scored 14 goals in 60 games for Arsenal, believes that a poor transfer window and and poor results so far has left his former club’s season in tatters just three games in. Like a lot of Arsenal fans, he was impressed by what the Gunners were doing at the start of the window but was left disappointed by what happened afterwards.

“I was getting excited when Wenger said that Sanchez was staying. Ozil, Sanchez and Lacazette – that’s a dynamite front three. Lacazette is a great finisher. It’s going to be fantastic,” Mariner told ESPN FC.

“As the transfer window is coming to a close, all of a sudden 65m is put on the table and we’re going to get Lemar. But they couldn’t that over the line, so therefore Sanchez is going now, no he’s not going he’s staying. It’s just an absolute shambles.

“Gazidis and Wenger and whoever the powers are above the head coach, they have a lot to answer for because this season is in tatters.”

Before that, Mariner took the time to detail what Arsene Wenger should do to improve the situation at Arsenal, adding: “He’s got to start having meetings. Group meetings, individual meetings, whoever he thinks is the leader of that dressing room he got to get them in and talk to them.

“He’s got to find out what system he wants to employ, because the players will dictate the system, not the coach. He’s been swapping around. There’s no settled formation or system.

“This is a massive task for Wenger. Is he up to it? That’s the question. We’re hearing from our colleagues over in the UK saying there’s no coaching going on. This is an absolutely diabolical situation for Arsenal.”

Whether it’s through meetings or otherwise, it’s definitely important for Arsenal to become a unified squad again.Likewise, Wenger does have to decide if he wants to continue with the back three and, if he does, which players are best suited for which position.

The problem of fitting Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain into the squad is now gone, and hopefully now he can put out a more balanced team. The season is just three games old and there’s plenty of time for Arsenal to get their act together and start improving on the pitch.