Former Arsenal midfielder Emmanuel Petit has slammed the current side following their 4-0 Champions League defeat to AC Milan.
Wednesday's first-leg loss at the San Siro was emblematic of a poor season for the Gunners.
"I asked myself what has become of the team that I knew. It's worse than I thought, they haven't recovered from the departures of [Cesc] Fabregas and [Samir] Nasri," Petit told sofoot.com.
"It's a gulf which is confirmed weekend after weekend and what is perhaps the most worrying thing is the club won't do anything this summer to reverse the trend. They don't want to go back to overspending in the transfer market, and I think they're right. But for two seasons, the level of the team has only gone down.
"We shouldn't hesitate to talk about the end of the cycle. Regardless of age, we have to look seriously at certain players. Right now. You have to send out a strong signal. You have to say to [Andrey] Arshavin, and to [Thomas] Rosicky, 'Gentlemen, thank you, but goodbye'. And soon."
Arsenal travel to Sunderland in the FA Cup this weekend.
Jack Prescott
