Cape Town - Manchester
United playing legend Roy Keane believes Arsenal have lacked the
character and leadership to win major titles in recent seasons under
manager Arsene Wenger.
The former United captain enjoyed a fierce rivalry with the Gunners during his playing days, where he often went toe-to-toe with central midfielder Patrick Vieira during an almost decade-long domination of English football by the two teams.
Wenger is set to leave the Emirates Stadium at the end of 2017/18 after 22 years in charge, although it has been 14 years since he last won a Premier League title.
Speaking to ITV, Keane highlighted what he thinks the Londoners have lacked since their last title triumph in 2003/04.
He said: "In my time, we knew they were going to be the toughest games of the season. The Arsenal teams had a lot of power, pace, character, leaders and lots of quality.
"They were producing brilliant, winning football. You look at the Arsenal teams over the last few years, still a lot of pace but no characters or leaders so they are missing out on the top prizes."
Speaking about candidates to take over the job next season from the veteran Frenchman, the Irishman added: "There are problems at Arsenal but it is still a great job and a lot of managers would love to manage Arsenal and get them back competing for league titles."