Former Arsenal defender Sol Campbell has told The Times that Arsene Wenger must sign more players with "character" if he wants to win the Premier League again.
Campbell, who was at the heart of Arsenal's defence during a five-year spell that included two Premier League titles and three FA Cups, told the Times that the Gunners no longer have the winning mentality that players like Patrick Vieira, Dennis Bergkamp and Thierry Henry provided in those days.
"Obviously Arsene and Arsenal want to win, but winning comes at a cost," Campbell said. "There are compromises you have to make through paying players and for personalities.
"Sometimes you might need to go back into your memory and remember the characters who won for you in the past and try to find those kind of guys. The type of characters who won for you in the past will be the same type of characters who will win for you in the future -- skilful guys who have ambitions, but [also have] a little bit of something about them."
Arsenal's mentality has come under increased scrutiny following their recent losses to Chelsea in the Premier League and Bayern Munich in the Champions League, which has seemingly knocked them out of contention in both competitions.
Many critics say Chile forward Alexis Sanchez is the only Gunners player who displays the needed desire to win every game, while Wenger admitted his team "collapsed" mentally in the 5-1 loss at Bayern.
Some pundits have also questioned whether Wenger wants to surround himself with strong-willed players, but Campbell insisted that's a must for teams that want to win.
"It's not about really nasty guys. It's about guys who are passionate and strong-willed -- skilful in their own position but also with the will to win -- guys who will keep that, whatever it takes, so that it would take a broken leg to stop them playing," he said.
"That's the winning mentality and it takes a long time for that to build and grow. Once you've lost that, it takes a hell of a long time to get it back."
Wenger's own future at the club is uncertain as his contract expires this summer. But Campbell said that if the Frenchman signs a two-year extension, he must push players harder to perform at their best.
"Has he got enough in the tank to take these two years that are on the table? And if he does, is he going to bust a gut to put people on the spot and see how much he can get out of them, not allow it to drift?" he said.
"It's not a horrible thing. It's just demanding more from your players and maybe buying a different kind of player who might not have all the other things you need, and might not listen to you all the time, but the type of player who will pull themselves up and pull someone else up when they're not pulling their weight.
"You need players who will be honest about themselves and their teammates and not be too embarrassed to demand that of each other.
"If he [Wenger] takes the two years, that's something he should look at."