Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink reckons Mikel Arteta made a grave mistake by getting rid of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in January questioning the Arsenal boss' no-nonsense policy'.
The Spaniard had a public fallout with the Gabon international as he was stripped of the club captaincy and banished from the first team before eventually joining Barcelona with his contract terminated.
Arsenal failed to bring in a replacement as Dusan Vlahovic rejected the Gunners in favour of a switch to Juventus, leaving Arteta with only two recognised no.9s in Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah who are both out of contract in the summer.
The north Londoners were initially coping well without Aubameyang as they emerged as favourites to finish in the top four amid a brilliant run of form. But after a three-game losing streak with Lacazette testing positive for Covid, it seems Arsenal are suffering for their lack of depth at the top end of the pitch.
And Hasselbaink reckons it was a huge error for the Gunners to part ways with their talisman - who came flying out the blocks at Barca - suggesting that Arteta should have found an alternative solution to the striker's off-the-field problems.
He said on Sky Sports ahead of Arsenal's clash with Chelsea: "I think they should have kept him, especially if they don’t have anyone to replace him.
"He may have been causing trouble on the pitch and off it, but he is the club’s most expensive player and was the club captain, but he scored a lot of goals, and he has proven that since he has moved to Barcelona. And that is what Arsenal need, a goalscorer."
Jamie Redknapp reckons Arsenal have been rocked by their defeat by Crystal Palace with the injured Thomas Partey a big miss for the Emirates club.
He said: "I think what really upset the balance of the team was that defeat to Crystal Palace, it really shocked the team. They have lost a couple of players to injury with Thomas Partey but I also think the fact that Spurs are now breathing down their necks and trying to make it difficult for them so that north London derby has got more significance in a couple of weeks' time."
Paul Merson reckons there was always going to be a drop-off for Arsenal as they were playing to their "ceiling" during their good run of form.
He said: "They were playing to their ceiling. Their players were playing until their highest potential but that seems to have dropped off a little bit. They are not Manchester City or Liverpool who can win games playing at 80%, they have to be at 100% to win and they have not been like that in their recent games.
"The hardest thing in football is to score goals. And some of those from Arsenal have been bad misses, but they have missed some excellent chances during the past three to four games. Again, they are playing to their ceiling and those chances were going in when they were playing at their best but it has dropped off a bit."
