Arsenal legend Lee Dixon has questioned the current squad’s desire, and insisted they do not care as much about the north London derby as the ­players of the past.

Dixon has revealed how, when he first arrived at the Gunners from Stoke in 1988, he was pinned up against the wall in the dressing room by his team-mates, and told about the importance of beating Tottenham.

Arsenal face their bitter rivals on Saturday with the balance of power shifting in north London.

Dixon praised Spurs’ “hunger and desire” under Mauricio Pochettino, while fearing it has disappeared under Arsene Wenger.

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The former Arsenal defender, who won two Premier League titles with Wenger, recalls the days of Tony Adams, Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry, when it was made clear how much the derby meant to all the players.

Now, Dixon says, that passion has gone and he clearly worries about the ­direction of the current Arsenal team.

He said: “Do they still have them up against the wall? I don’t think that happens any more.

Dixon and co celebrate a goal against Tottenham at White Hart Lane in 2000 (
Image:
Daily Mirror)

“The intensity of the fixture has died away in the dressing room a little bit. It’s important that someone rekindles that.

“There’s no doubt in my mind, there’s been teams in the past, which have had players who had more desire to win a game. No doubt about that.

“I think pretty much Arsene would say the same. I don’t care what he says publicly. That is obvious. Now whether that’s the modern game, other teams have got players with more desire in other teams.

Alexis Sanchez shows the desire Dixon's looking for in training... (
Image:
Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
...and Per Mertesacker looked ready to lay his body on the line too... (
Image:
Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
...but are Hector Bellerin and Danny Welbeck willing to run through walls for victory? (
Image:
Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

“It’s not a foreign thing.

“We had players like Patrick Vieira. He’s foreign. He had desire. It’s not about the foreign players in the game.

“It’s difficult to put your finger on it. You’ve got to find the players out there who have that desire in them.

“It’s becoming more and more difficult for everybody, because the modern player is a little bit softer than the player in the past, because hunger and desire go hand-in-hand.

“Will the Tottenham players on Saturday have the same intensity of the Tottenham players that we played against? It’s just the way the game has gone. The Tottenham-Arsenal rivalry is different.

“The foreign player ­influence makes a difference in that respect — if I played for Inter Milan against AC Milan, then I wouldn’t have the same feeling for it if I was a north London boy, playing for Arsenal against Tottenham.

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“So over the years, you have to pass on those traits and that character to the foreign players, like they did with me because I was 'foreign' – I was from Manchester.

I was the foreigner – and they said to me: ‘This is what you do’.”

Tottenham have finished above Arsenal just once in the 21 years of Wenger’s reign, finishing second to their fifth last season, yet Pochettino has shifted the momentum in recent times.

Spurs finished 11 points above Arsenal last season and are ahead of them again already (
Image:
Getty)

The importance of being top dogs in north London should not be underestimated for Wenger, because he could always point to that to appease the fans.

But now the Gunners’ domination appears to be on the wane.

Dixon, the executive producer of the new film, '89 , about Arsenal’s famous title win at Anfield, believes ­Pochettino has traits which remind him of former Gunners boss George Graham in his style, as he guided the club to two titles.

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Former right-back Dixon, who was capped 22 times by England, added: “They remind me a little bit, Pochettino’s team, of our side with George. Because they’ve got that drive, that work-rate, hunger and desire.

“They’re exhausted after training, Pochettino really works them hard . They’ve got this little glint in their eye and it’s quite scary.”

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