Arsenal legend slams players' attitude as he aims 'small club' dig at West Ham and Fulham

Arsenal legend William Gallas has questioned whether the current Gunners squad has the 'desire' to challenge for the Premier League title against an in-form Liverpool side this season.

The former defender, who made 142 appearances for Arsenal and won the Premier League twice with Chelsea, was full of praise for Mikel Arteta but criticised his squad's mentality. The 46-year-old also inadvertently swiped at London rivals Fulham and West Ham as he looked down on the outfits as 'small clubs' who shouldn't have got the better of Arsenal.

Gallas told Genting Casino: "Arsenal will challenge for the title, but they won’t be champions this season. At the moment, they are five points behind Liverpool, so it will be difficult for them (to become champions). I don’t see the strength required to win the league from the Arsenal players. I don’t know if they have the desire to overhaul their rivals in the second half of the season and win the Premier League.

"At Arsenal, the problem is always the same. They always drop points against the teams that they should be expected to beat. They drop too many points against the small clubs. They lost against West Ham at home and then they lost against Fulham away, so that shows you that they still don’t have the right mentality when it comes to playing these clubs or don’t take these games as seriously as they should. They need to understand that to win the title, they need to beat these smaller teams."

Despite his harsh words about his former club, the Frenchman did admit that Arsenal had majorly improved under Mikel Arteta's tenure and called for the manager to be offered a new contract by the club thanks to his efforts.

He added: "Let’s not forget where Arsenal were when Mikel Arteta came into the club. Arsenal were a mess two or three years ago. They were not doing well. Arteta has transformed Arsenal’s form and all of a sudden, the club is respected not only in England but around the world again.

"Clubs respect Arsenal because they can see what they are doing in the Premier League and in the Champions League this season. The club are back. They are back on track and, slowly, slowly, they are challenging for the biggest prizes again. Arteta has played a massive role in that transformation."