Mikel Arteta saw his Arsenal side beaten easily by Aston Villa yesterday and Richard Keys believes one Arsenal player should be fuming with the manager.
Villa produced a tactical masterclass to keep Arsenal out at one end before hitting them on the break to score twice and give their own Champions League hopes a massive boost.
As for Arsenal, it means the title is now out of their hands and if Manchester City win every game, the title will once again head to The Etihad.
Of course, Mikel Arteta must turn things around quickly.
Arsenal have a big Champions League clash in Munich this Wednesday and a win against the German giants could go a long way to repairing the damage of the weekend.
The Spaniard, though, must get his team selection right to win in Munich.
And according to Richard Keys, that’s something Arteta didn’t get right against Villa, with Keys suggesting a certain Declan Rice should be fuming with his manager.
Richard Keys explains why Declan Rice should be really annoyed with Mikel Arteta
As usual, Rice occupied the midfield area for Arsenal but this time, he did it without Jorginho by his side.
Instead, Mikel Arteta moved Kai Havertz into the middle and moved Rice further back, allowing Oleksandr Zinchenko to move into the middle from left-back.
However, it didn’t work and writing in his weekly blog, Richard Keys has said Declan Rice should be furious with Arteta for persisting with Zinchenko.
“Rice was back to being Declan Nice, tippy-tappying about allowing Zinchenko to try and run the midfield. What is Arteta’s obsession with crow-barring Zinchenko into his team? Is he really so important?,” Keys moaned.
“If I was Rice I’d be furious. I’d be asking ‘why pay £100m for me – only to ask me to play second fiddle to that busy fool’? Zinchenko doesn’t affect games in the same way Rice does. Zinchenko’s inclusion also means a different role for Havertz of course. The whole balance of the team has to be different.”
Declan Rice and Jorginho have to play together
Whether there was one eye on the game with Bayern Munich here, only Mikel Arteta knows.
But overall, it was a team selection that might have cost Arsenal the title.
Keys might be marmite in his opinions at times but he makes a very valid point here in suggesting the need to fudge Zinchenko into the XI is holding Arsenal back.
As for Declan Rice, he has been excelling alongside Jorginho in midfield, with Arsenal winning nine of the last ten the pair had played.
Quite why Arteta opted to change the winning formula is something only he can explain.
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