Gary Neville has suggested that he felt that Mikel Arteta needed to take one Arsenal player off with about 20 minutes remaining against Aston Villa on Sunday, as he started to fear that the Gunners were heading towards defeat.
Certainly, this past weekend feels as though it could be a defining one in the Premier League title race. Manchester City now have a little breathing space after both Liverpool and Arsenal lost.
Both of Aston Villa’s goals came late on at the Emirates. However, many would have surely felt that they were coming for some time as the Villans produced an outstanding second-half performance.
Mikel Arteta may have some difficult questions to answer. He made some interesting changes for the game, with Kai Havertz moved from the striker position and Jorginho left out of the lineup.
Gary Neville surprised Mikel Arteta didn’t replace Arsenal star earlier against Aston Villa
But he also decided to pick Oleksandr Zinchenko ahead of Jakub Kiwior at left-back.
Kiwior was shaky against Bayern Munich in the week. But there is no question that the Poland international is the better defender. And that was perhaps best exemplified when Youri Tielemans hit the woodwork in the second-half.
Tielemans did not have to do a lot to win a challenge with Zinchenko on the edge of the box. That proved to be a warning sign for Arsenal.
And speaking on The Gary Neville Podcast, Gary Neville suggested that he could sense what was going to happen midway through the second-half.
“Arsenal were up against a coach with know-how today, who imparts know-how and knowledge on his team. And they fell for that in the second-half. With 20 minutes to go, I thought get Jorginho on in midfield and Kiwior at left-back. Get your best team out there and just gain some level of control of the game because you’re going to get beat,” he said.
The harsh truth about Oleksandr Zinchenko at the Emirates
There is no question that Zinchenko played his part in elevating Arsenal following his £30 million move. He demands so much. And his experience of winning at Manchester City appeared to help raise the standards in that first season.
However, when Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus arrived, Arsenal had just missed out on the top-four. So signing those not starting regularly for Manchester City seemed to be a coup.
But Arsenal are not that side anymore. Now, they are the team fighting for titles. And thus, Zinchenko and Jesus are now in a similar position to where they were at City.
That makes Arteta starting both against Villa on Sunday seem slightly baffling. Perhaps he assumed that Arsenal would absolutely dominate against Unai Emery’s side, and needed those players who are so comfortable on the ball.
What was alarming was that Arteta did not seem to see what many others noticed – with Zinchenko only coming off once the score was 2-0.
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