Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira has claimed that the current team contains "better football players" than when he was at the club.

The Frenchman was a vital cog in the Gunners machine during his nine-year spell, during which he won three Premier League titles and three FA Cups.

Arsene Wenger's teams have not scooped the league crown since the 2003-04 season, and have only claimed four major trophies - all FA Cups - in the past 13 years.

The club have started this season poorly, having picked up just three points from a possible nine, and the team's performance was heavily criticised following Sunday's 4-0 defeat to Liverpool.

Despite Vieira's successful years at Arsenal, he believes that the players at Wenger's disposal now are of better quality.

"I'm not one to say, 'Our generation was better than this generation'. It doesn't make sense to compare the two generations because we are in a different period," the Daily Mail quotes the Frenchman as saying.

"The team in our generation were more physical but this generation are better football players, there's no doubt about that. So the balance is what Arsenal need to find. We had the physicality to deal with different situations."

Vieira, who previously worked with Manchester City's academy, has been the manager of MLS side New York City FC since 2016.