Robert Pires believes that Arsene Wenger needs to freshen up Arsenal from top to bottom.

The Arsenal legend doesn’t want Wenger to be sacked. However, he does think that his former boss needs to freshen up everything at the club, from staff to the players, in order to inject some life into it and compete with other teams.

“He would have to change or rejuvenate those around him. It is important,” the former midfielder, who still often trains at London Colney, told RMC.

“He should bring freshness, people who see football differently from him… Football has changed, players have changed, behaviors are no longer the same, football is going faster and faster. Perhaps it is up to him and his entourage to adapt to this new football. I do not want him to leave, but he would have to put some freshness around him.”

Wenger’s stubbornness and fact that he’s stuck in his ways has become his downfall.

As other Premier League teams grow and evolve by changing styles, players, staff and tactics, he stays the same. Not only does this mean that Arsenal have fallen behind their rivals, it means that they’re incredibly easy to play against. Now, it doesn’t even take a top team to trip the Gunners up – anyone can do it.

Fans were promised a summer shake-up, where new staff would come in, deadwood would be moved and new faces would arrive. So far, two new faces – Alexandre Lacazette and Sead Kolasinac – arrived; Arsenal brought Jens Lehmann and fitness expert, Darren Burgess on board, and sold a few players, including Wojciech Szczesny, which most Gooners are always going to be bitter about.

Sure enough, the Arsenal we’ve watched so far this season has barely changed on the pitch either and, as Pires says, it needs rejuvenating. Not that I can see that happening any time soon.