Adebayor reduces Arsenal to 'just Ozil and Sanchez'

Former Arsenal forward Emmanuel Adebayor is none too impressed with the makeup of the Gunners, saying Arsene Wenger's ranks are too thin to survive in the Premier League.

Adebayor left Arsenal in 2009 to join Manchester City, then ended up at Arsenal's greatest rival, Tottenham. Now unattached at club level while he represents Togo at the Africa Cup of Nations, he took some time to talk about his former team, reducing Arsenal down to just two players - Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez.

"Arsenal have a good team but if Sanchez gets injured I don't know who they've got," Adebayor told Nick Ames from the Guardian. "If you look at Chelsea, when (Eden) Hazard gets injured they've got Willian; if Willian gets injured they can still play (Victor) Moses further forward.

"Arsenal's problem is that today they are just Ozil and Sanchez. If one of them gets injured, it is a problem."

Adebayor's words certainly won't go down well with Arsenal supporters, who already endure a sour relationship with the 32-year-old.

Despite once taunting Arsenal fans with an exaggerated slide after scoring for Manchester City in a tumultuous clash, Adebayor isn't quite sure why his reputation has suffered.

"I have a bad reputation in England and I don't know why. Maybe it's something that has just followed me," he pondered. "But one thing I always say is that 90 percent of the people I've played with would say I'm an amazing guy, a great teammate.

"Other people, those who work on the gate at every stadium I've played at, will tell you I am a humble guy and a nice person. But the press will say what they want, and in my career I've been unfortunate enough to have a lot of negativity."