'It p*sses me off!' - Petit calls out Emery over away record & tells him to stop playing out from the back

Emmanuel Petit has been left frustrated by Arsenal's struggles on the road under Unai Emery and can sympathise with Gunners supporters who are losing patience with the Spaniard.

The Gunners were beaten 1-0 by Sheffield United on Monday night as they extended their poor run away from home.

Indeed, the north Londoners have won just one league game on the road this season - a 1-0 win over Newcastle United on the opening weekend - and Petit has criticised his former side's lack of character.

"I can understand why many Arsenal supporters are losing patience with Unai Emery. As a manager he has a bad record away from home - not just with Arsenal, but also while he was in Spain," he told Paddy Power.

"Arsenal showed no character and it p*sses me off because it has been the case so many times away from home. 

"The starting XI he picked against Sheffield United was strange. It's difficult after an international break when you have to play teams that don't have as many players involved in the international fixtures.

"But you know what to expect when you go to Bramall Lane - you know the qualities of the Sheffield United team. They fight, especially in front of their home crowd, and they get balls into the box and put pressure on at set pieces. That's what they did against Liverpool and Chelsea.

"But more importantly they didn't show any technical quality on the pitch. They gave away so many simple balls and had no inspiration, imagination or creativity. They looked so heavy.  This isn't Arsenal - you need to take the ball and show what you've got.

"But I haven't seen that in years. Nothing has changed since Arsene Wenger left."

Petit has also questioned Emery's insistence on his defenders and goalkeeper playing out from the back, suggesting that the Gunners' backline don't possess the technical attributes to be able to adopt to that style of football.

"Emery wants to build from the back. Like against Watford, when they were leading 2-0 before making a stupid mistake because they tried to follow Emery's instructions," he added.

"Some of those Arsenal defenders don't have the technical quality to do that. Or if they do, they don't have the character to do it. Teams like City can do that because their players aren't scared. But most of those Arsenal players, when they feel someone at their back, whoa, it's a problem."