Jamie Carragher believes Arsenal’s defenders are not up to the required standard after the Gunners fell to a 3-0 defeat by Manchester City on Sunday.
Freddie Ljungberg’s side were well beaten by the Premier League champions at the Emirates Stadium and remain ninth in the table, seven points adrift of the top four.
Twelve teams boast a superior defensive record to Arsenal, including Crystal Palace, Newcastle, Bournemouth and Brighton.
And Carragher thinks the north Londoners will continue to languish in mid-table unless they tighten up at the back.
“Every time I watch them play, every time the ball comes in on the attack they just drop off," the former Liverpool centre-back said. "Remember the Norwich goal where [Shkodran] Mustafi and [David] Luiz let [Teemu] Pukki get it and turn?
"It's something that needs to change on the training ground. Keep the line and press. I said on commentary about it. They drop off when they should press, they press when they should drop off. It's like they don't know what they're doing.
"Sometimes you look at a big mistake in a goal; Calum Chambers loses the ball second half, Arsenal go through on goal. Everyone can see that. But these are things that kill the team. It's your job and sometimes you think you're looking after yourself, but you're hurting the rest of the team. That's why David Luiz isn't playing.
"I'm glad he's gone with Calum Chambers. We know Luiz isn't good enough, that's all he does, drops off to protect himself. But he's catching the disease as well too - make the mistakes being aggressive and going forward, I'm sure that's what Freddie Ljungberg wants. Do it that way, doing the right thing.”
Arsenal will travel to Goodison Park to face a revitalised Everton side in Saturday’s early kick-off.
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