‘For me’: Tony Adams names the Arsenal player Mikel Arteta has mistreated this season; says he deserved more ‘playing time’
Arsenal legend Tony Adams has criticised Mikel Arteta for a lack of rotation this season and suggested Emile Smith Rowe should have played more.
The Gunners boss has gone with Martinelli and Saka off the flanks most weeks but in the end, the pair appeared to run out of steam as City won the title.
Yesterday’s loss at Nottingham Forest was another low point of recent weeks for Arsenal. And speaking on Sky Sports, Adams believes Arteta has himself to blame.
Tony Adams wants Emile Smith Rowe to play more
Speaking to Jamie Carragher and the Sky team after the game, Adams was clearly upset at what he’d seen in recent weeks from Arsenal and Arteta
And the Gunners legend claims that Smith Rowe, who was once again benched, should have been involved more.
“We’ve depended on Martinelli and Saka for most of the season. To give them a rest now and again. They could have given Emile a bit more air time for me. He could have subbed Martinelli and let him play off the left-hand side,” Adams said.
“Just because we’re always going to need them. We need them to get over the line. I’ve been waiting for the errors to come and they weren’t coming. Everything was stable. We had it going on. But as soon as the resources, a couple of injuries, people lost their form, it just didn’t work. I think it’s been lost three months ago.”
Depth needed this summer
Arsenal need more in terms of quality and depth. And them from there, they need Mikel Arteta to use that depth.
The Gunners face a crucial summer. Everyone else will be adding to their squads and Arsenal need to make sure they get the right faces in the building
They have done superbly well this season. But Adams is right. More rotation was needed and Smith Rowe could well have contributed a lot more than he did.
