“I’ve talked to him like a father and I’ve been patient enough but I think it’s time to free him”- Mikel Arteta finally confessed he’s lost trust in ‘lazy’ Arsenal star who has always lost the ball after every 2 touches in the premier league this season
“I’ve talked to him like a father and I’ve been patient enough but I think it’s time to free him”- Mikel Arteta finally confessed he’s lost trust in ‘lazy’ Arsenal star who has always lost the ball after every 2 touches in the premier league this season
Arteta must be losing trust in “lazy” Arsenal ace who lost 80% duels
Well, after a couple of weeks that suggested things were finally on the up and up, Arsenal managed to drop yet more points in the Premier League yesterday afternoon.
Mikel Arteta’s side made the relatively short trip to West London in the knowledge that a win over Fulham would see them move within four points of league leaders Liverpool thanks to their game being suspended courtesy of storm Darragh.
However, with Raúl Jiménez scoring for the home side within the first 15 minutes, the Gunners were left scrambling, and while they managed to claw one back early in the second half, they had to settle for a single point.
There were disappointing displays from Arteta’s side across the board, but there was one player who was notably poor and must now be seriously testing his manager’s patience.
Arsenal’s poor performers
So, before we get to the chief offender, it’s only fair to talk about a few other players who looked significantly off the pace at Craven Cottage, starting with Kai Havertz.
The German international had a game to forget, as he offered practically nothing in attack, taking three shots off target, taking just 26 touches and only picking up an assist because he failed to get his attempt on target from Declan Rice’s corner.
Unsurprisingly, football.london’s Chief Arsenal writer, Kaya Kaynak, was left unimpressed and awarded the former Chelsea man a 5/10 at full-time.
Another particularly disappointing performance came from one of the heroes from mid-week, Jakub Kiwior.
The Polish international was sensational against Manchester United and looked more than capable of being Arsenal’s third-choice centre-back.
However, yesterday afternoon, his poor positioning led to the host’s goal early on in the encounter.
It might sound harsh considering the angle Jimenez eventually scored from, but small mistakes are punished at the top level, and it’s a mistake that will only create doubt in the minds of fans over Kiwior’s suitability to stand in for William Saliba or Gabriel Magalhães going forward.
That said, even though his mistake resulted in a goal and Havertz was blunt in attack, neither have received as much negative attention following the result as their teammate, who put in yet another poor performance and must be testing Arteta’s patience.
The Arsenal star playing himself out of the team
Unfortunately for him, there’s been one Arsenal star under the spotlight following yesterday’s draw, and it’s undoubtedly Gabriel Martinelli.
The Brazilian wasn’t selected in the starting lineup following his underwhelming display against United on Wednesday, and his impact, or lack thereof, off the bench yesterday afternoon more than justified Arteta’s decision.
The former Ituano gem was only on the pitch at Craven Cottage for around 30 minutes but managed to perform so poorly that we’d be surprised to see him anywhere near the starting lineup for some time.
It’s an opinion backed up by the stats, as in his 30 minutes of action the 23-year-old amassed a combined expected goal and assists figure of 0.01, took zero shots, failed in 75% of his dribbles, failed to play a key pass, misplaced five of six crosses, lost eight of ten duels, took 25 touches and lost the ball 12 times, or practically every two touches.
That’s not all, though, as he somehow managed to stray offside for what should have been the Gunners’ late winner in a moment that saw journalist Con Harrison slam him for being “lazy.”
To top it all off, he also picked up a stupid yellow card for an argument in the 82nd minute and was incredibly lucky not to receive another one a few minutes later for petulantly throwing the ball at Kenny Tete.
Now, if the Guarulhos-born dynamo was in scintillating form and scoring for fun, this sort of performance could be ignored and put down to a bad day at the office, but in 20 appearances this season, he’s only scored four goals and provided three assists, which is hardly earth-shattering.
Ultimately, while Martinelli possesses undeniable talent, he has continued to underwhelm this season, and yesterday’s cameo against Fulham was so dire that we wouldn’t be surprised if Arteta was beginning to lose his trust in the young Brazilian.
