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Rio Ferdinand has likened Arsenal to a 'promiscuous girlfriend' because Mikel Arteta 'can't trust' his players when they go out on the pitch.

The Gunners were held to a 1-1 draw by Burnley at Turf Moor on Saturday when a huge mistake from Granit Xhaka gifted Chris Wood an equaliser.

The result leaves Arsenal facing an uphill battle to finish in a European spot, and Ferdinand believes things aren't 'coming together' under Arteta as they should be.

Speaking on his Vibe with FIVE YouTube series, the former Manchester United and England defender said: 'They should definitely have had a penalty [for a handball by Erik Pieters]. 

'The decision was a disgrace, VAR has become a laughing stock, it's ruining our game.

'But it doesn't paper over the cracks at Arsenal. They had all the chances to finish the game off, they could have finished the game off well before.

'If [Bukayo] Saka's not doing it, Arsenal haven't performed this year. 

'But Arteta must look at the squad like a promiscuous girlfriend. He just must lack so much trust and faith in them. 

'He can't trust them at all, because he doesn't know what's going to happen at the moment. 

'He could do the best team talk of his life but they're going to go out there and do their own thing and it doesn't seem to be coming together. 

'The mad thing is I like Arsenal, I love some of the players there: Auba, Saka, [Gabriel] Martinelli, [Emile] Smith Rowe. I can go on and on with all these names.'

Ferdinand also took aim at Arsenal's big signing of last summer, Thomas Partey, who moved to north London in a £45million switch from Atletico Madrid.

The midfielder played 80 minutes of the draw with Burnley but has struggled for fitness this season, missing 16 games with hip, muscle and hamstring injuries.

'Partey, that's another one, he's never fit!' Ferdinand continued. 'He keeps coming back and breaking down! 

'They've got good players there but for some reason, I don't know what's happening, it just isn't coming together consistently at the moment.'  

Arteta has previously revealed that he plans to do an 'unprecedented' amount of transfer business this summer in a bid to get Arsenal challenging back towards the top of the table.

And with the Gunners currently languishing in 10th place, 12 points behind fourth-placed Chelsea and 27 off leaders Manchester City, Ferdinand has stressed how important Arteta's next signings will be.

'I like Arteta, I want him to do well, I just think that recruitment is going to be big in this next window,' he added.