Former Arsenal right-back Lauren has explained exactly how and why Arsene Wenger has changed since the days of the Invincibles - and outlined the specific reasons he CANNOT see him winning the league.
The Cameroon star was a key part of the the Gunners side which famously went unbeaten through the entire 2003/04 Premier League season.
In the latest episode of the Mirror Football podcast - which you can listen to in full at the top of the page - Lauren exclusively told us about the key differences between the Wenger he worked for, and the Wenger of today.
"Wenger is the kind of manager who is not looking at individuals," says the former Highbury favourite. "He looks at the team.
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"We all make mistakes, but when he talked about errors, he was looking at the whole side. That was a key issue in our time - if someone had a bad day, we didn't focus on that player.
"I don't know what other managers did, but he always emphasised we had to take care of decision making. As a defender, people talk about how bad the back four might be - but if the whole team defend in the right way, it's easier for the back four. He wanted us to work together."
Lauren believes Wenger's move away from this strategy - where he would focus on his team's strengths, rather than worry about the opposition - is a major part of the reason Arsenal are no longer title contenders.
"This year, he’s changed that [worrying about opponents].
"Now he’s taking more care about the opposition. After 18, 19 years of playing 4-4-2, now he’s playing three at the back. That means he’s worried about what other people are doing."
The man who won two Premier Leagues and three FA Cups playing for Wenger now believes his former boss CANNOT win the title with his current squad - and lists three reasons.
"The first is that he doesn't have those seven or eight players who are fighting for him.
"The second factor is that there are so many teams looking to win the league - five or six of them.
"And the third factor is that - with all my respect - we miss something in the dressing room. We miss something that drives teams to win and challenge for the Premier League - some leadership from inside.
"Nowadays, people are not fighting for the solution, they are not fighting for the flag, fighting for the whole institution. I'm talking about people in general, not just Arsenal. People are more selfish and looking more for individual success, rather then whole club."
Lauren considers this to a significantly different attitude to the one he found in the Arsenal squad which went through a whole season without losing a game.
"That was a marvellous achievement. It was unbelievable, I will stay there forever.
"Wenger saw the potential of that generation. He believed we could do it, but none of us thought about going unbeaten. In the dressing room, we were just trying to win the next game and improve in training.
"This is the key. If you are in a team just thinking about the end of the season, you cannot achieve your goals.
"We wanted to improve every single game - that’s why we managed to do it."
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