Former Arsenal manager Unai Emery has criticised the attitude of a number of senior players at the Emirates Stadium.

After a prolonged period of poor form earlier this season, the club's hierarchy opted to sack Emery, replacing him with Manchester City assistant Mikel Arteta.

However, Emery has suggested that he deserves more credit for his achievements in North London, claiming that he halted a 'downward spiral' when not being supported by every member of his squad.

Speaking to France Football, the Spaniard said: "Arsenal was a club on the downward slope for two years when I arrived. We stopped this fall and even started to straighten the club with a Europa League final and a fifth place in the championship, only one place behind Tottenham while we only took a point in the last five days.

"We had the qualification for the Champions League in hand and it went wrong in the final. But it was a good season and we had the idea to continue this progression, but we lost our four captains: [Laurent] Koscielny, [Petr] Cech, [Aaron] Ramsey and [Nacho] Monreal.

"We have missed personalities this season to stay on track. And some stars did not have the right attitude and asked for more than they gave. Given all that, it would have taken more time to successfully transition to the new Arsenal that I wanted."

Since being named as the permanent successor to Emery, Arteta has watched the Gunners record three wins and five draws from his nine games in charge.