Sol Campbell believes there are a lack of leaders in the current Arsenal side

Former Arsenal defender Sol Campbell believes his old club could be suffering from a lack of leadership on the pitch.

Manager Arsene Wenger has come in for growing criticism from Arsenal fans as the team's hopes of winning their first title in 13 years have virtually ended following defeats to Watford and Chelsea in the last week.

Campbell won two league titles with the Gunners under Wenger during his first spell at the club between 2001 and 2006, following his surprise arrival from north London rivals Tottenham.

But the 42-year-old is adamant Wenger does not suffer from a lack of belief, and reckons the blend of personalities in the current squad may be part of the problem.

Tony Adams was a central figure in Arsene Wenger's first Premier League title win

"I don't know what's happening now, but when I was there we used to police it ourselves. We had the characters to police it ourselves," Campbell told Premier League Daily.

"We didn't allow the whole 45 minutes to go by, we would address it on the pitch because if you wait for 45 minutes and you are in, you might be 2-0 down.

"And we had the characters you know would say something, Patrick would say something, Tony, Martin Keown, David Seaman, all these guys, from the front Thierry, Dennis Bergkamp, all these guys would chip in on the pitch while the game was going on. That's the key, you've got to have those characters on the pitch.

2:58 Chelsea 3-1 Arsenal Chelsea 3-1 Arsenal

"The guys who will say something on the pitch, you don't need one, you need almost four or five saying their stuff if things are not going right.

"I think with Arsene I think he believes he can win the league. I think he starts every season saying, 'right, we can win the league playing this style of football'. Obviously reality kicks in halfway through the season. It's not that easy because you need the personnel on the pitch.

"And also even in the stands and the bench, you need guys who can come on and make that impact and make the difference or are hungry or fighting to get on to the pitch, so when they do get on the pitch they are ready. I think it's the balance."

Campbell won two Premier League titles with Arsenal

Arsenal have finished in the top four every year since Wenger arrived at the club in 1996 and Campbell fears this may miss out the Manchester United this year.

"Top four, if they keep going like that, is going to be extremely hard to get because you've got Man United who are motoring now," Campbell said.

"Maybe they might just scrape it. Man United might run out of games. The might get that fourth spot, Arsenal."