Cape Town - Former
Arsenal midfielder Gilberto Silva believes it's time for Arsene Wenger
to pack it in and make way for a new manager with fresh ideas.
Silva played under Wenger for six years and was part of the "Invincibles" of 2003/04, and he thinks the injection of motivated young managers into the Premier League has made it difficult for the Frenchman to keep up.
"I feel that the time has come," Gilberto told Sport360. "The more the past is coming to a close, the more his time is coming - not because he can't do the job any longer, but, perhaps because the other clubs have changed their way of working, the way of doings things.
"He hasn't changed much, he hasn't changed his way of working - not because he doesn't want to, but it is not so easy to compete with clubs who spend a lot of money every season."
Despite Wenger having a wealth of experience to draw upon, Silva believes the energy and determination of younger managers has got the better of his team in recent times.
"He has been in the Premier League longer than those coaches. Wenger has spent a lot more years than them in the Premier League. They are younger and motivated. They have a lot of energy to look around and source ways to win against Wenger," Silva added.
"He has his own way of working, in which he believes. Irrespective of whether you are either a young or an old coach, you have to believe in something, and that's what he does."
Meanwhile Frank Lampard labelled the Gunners' dressing room as weak saying that they lacked strong characters within the squad to face up to adversity.
Lampard, while appearing on Sky Sports added that Arsenal lacked personalities to effectively deal with the Alexis Sanchez debacle to prevent it from disrupting the squad.