Mikel Arteta, the manager of Arsenal, has come under fire for selecting a midfield that lacked originality during the team’s 2-0 loss to Bournemouth over the weekend.
Thomas Partey, Declan Rice and Mikel Arteta of Arsenal (Photo by Mike Hewitt, Warren Little/Getty Images)
Even though the Spanish tactician had the evident problem of Martin Odegaard being out due to injury, Arsenal expert Charles Watts acknowledged he was taken aback by Arteta’s selection in that area in an exclusive interview with CaughtOffside for the most recent edition of his Daily Briefing column.Declan Rice, Thomas Partey, and Mikel Merino were Arsenal’s midfield options, but Watts acknowledges that he thought right away that the three would not be able to offer much of an offensive threat, and that is exactly how it turned out.
Ethan Nwaneri, who is more of a natural like-for-like replacement for Odegaard in terms of his qualities and playing style, might be a better pick in upcoming games, even though it is a big ask for a young player who has not shown much promise.After his use of Rice, Partey, and Merino obviously failed, could Arteta take that chance? Watts obviously has a lot of faith that Nwaneri could do the job.
Arsenal’s midfield has been criticised; is Ethan Nwaneri due?
Watts responded to the loss at Bournemouth by saying, “I do not think the team selection helped, and it was just a really poor night for Arsenal.”The fact that Arteta selected Mikel Merino, Declan Rice, and Thomas Partey in midfield truly caught me off guard. That always seemed like a midfield that would have trouble coming up with ideas, and that is exactly how it happened.To give the team a little more inventiveness and attacking intent in those central areas, I would have preferred to see Ethan Nwaneri start instead of Martin Odegaard or Bukayo Saka, who are both starting on the bench.
Although Nwaneri has made a few appearances in the first team this season and appears to be a great prospect, it is unclear if he is prepared to start games on a regular basis and take on the enormous task of replacing a top-tier creative midfielder like Odegaard.