Bacary Sagna has slammed the decision of his former side Arsenal to sack Unai Emery without already having a replacement ready.

Caretaker manager Freddie Ljungberg saw his Arsenal side fall to a 3-0 defeat by Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium thanks to a brace by Kevin De Bruyne, who also assisted Raheem Sterling.

Sagna who made 285 appearances for the Gunners between 2007 and 2014, said the team need a 'face to represent the club'.

Bacary Sagna has said that it was a mistake for Arsenal to sack Unai Emery without a plan

Emery was sacked by Arsenal at the end of November following a poor run of form

Sagna labelled it a 'mistake' to fire Emery. He said: 'Unless you have someone in mind, you shouldn't be firing a manager without having a replacement.

'To me it has been a lot of time, potentially 12 points they could have had and they didn't.

'We have owners we never see. You never know what’s going to happen.

'They got rid of Unai Emery and didn’t have a plan. It’s a big mess. They need to find the right manager. Carlo Ancelotti? He’s well respected in the world of football and can bring something to the club.

'He has the Italian touch, so will be working a lot tactically and defensively. The players need some love.'

The comments come following ones made by the Frenchman before the game where he described the situation at his former club as a 'circus'.

Freddie Ljungberg hasn't been able to turn Arsenal's fortunes since he became caretaker

Arsenal currently sit ninth place in the Premier League, 27 points behind league leaders Liverpool with not even a half of the season played.

Unai Emery was sacked by the Gunners on November 29 after the club went through their worst top flight return of games without a win since February 1992.

Arsenal legend Ljungberg took over on an interim basis but things have not improved under his helm, with the club failing to win four out of their five matches under the Swede.

A number of names have been linked with the Arsenal job including Mikel Arteta, Nuno Espirito Santo, Roberto Martinez, Mauricio Pochettino and Patrick Vieira.