Micah Richards is a ‘massive fan’ of AFTV but believes Robbie Lyle and co. are partly responsible for Arsenal’s terrible form.
The Gunners are winless in their last seven Premier League matches and find themselves all the way down in 15th position in the table.
Arsenal have lost eight of their 14 Premier League matches and aren’t fancied in their Carabao Cup tie
They have a break from their league woes with a Carabao Cup quarter-final tie on Tuesday night, LIVE on talkSPORT right now.
However, the match is at home to Manchester City, who haven’t lost in the competition since October 2016.
Arsenal’s terrible run has unsurprisingly thrown up a lot of questions about Mikel Arteta’s managerial credentials.
However, Richards believes it’s not just internal issues which are affecting Arsenal’s form – digging out fan channel AFTV for their excessive criticism of the team.
Lyle’s TV channel has led the way in changing how fans give their views on their team
But Richards believes AFTV does more harm than good to Arsenal
Richards also offered some tactical advice to Arteta as he looks to get Arsenal’s mojo back.
“I would just play the kids. The kids are better than some of the senior players,” Richards told Sky Sports.
“People talk about Granit Xhaka and I feel sorry for him because I think he’s a bit of a scapegoat but just play the kids.
“They’re playing with more freedom, with more confidence.
“You know AFTV, I’m a massive fan of it, I love it. But for the players, the amount of pressure… you could be scrolling through and your name pops up and someone’s being horrible and it can affect your confidence.
“These players now look at social media. Players work hard, trying to be better every day but there’s negativity…”