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Martin Keown believes that Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is making a series of wrong decisions as speculation about his future at the club mounts.
The Gunners’ crisis this season deepened Tuesday night after a Carabao Cup quarter-final exit at the hands of Manchester City in a 4-1 loss.
Arteta, who also sees his team ranked 15th in the Premier League table and just four points above the relegation zone, made a number of changes against Pep Guardiola’s men, including starts for goalkeeper number 2 Alex Runarsson and forward Gabriel Martinelli.
But the Icelandic international had a horror show and launched a Riyad Mahrez free kick into his net, while Martinelli had to be taken out within minutes of the second half following a first-half collision with City goalkeeper Zach. Steffen.
And the Sportsmail Keown columnist questioned why the club opted to sell former goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez for £ 20 million in the summer to Aston Villa and sign Runarsson, while also being shocked by the decision to let 19-year-old Martinelli , will continue, just a few weeks later. Midfielder Thomas Partey returned from injury to participate in the North London derby.
“It has become a crisis and the manager has joined in really unusual decisions,” Keown told talkSPORT.
‘He played the little boy [Runarsson] last night, nobody likes to see that [the mistakes], but I don’t think his performance was a surprise.
‘If Leno is injured, having allowed Martinez to leave, they have been left wide open from the goalkeeper’s point of view.
Keep it simple! Martinez was outstanding last season. He’s looking at decisions at key moments, Partey comes back after a few days of training and is now gone for months.
‘The support base around the coach has to help him when it comes to every decision.
“ Last night I was screaming on TV: Martinelli, a fantastic talent, was injured five minutes before the break.
‘Don’t bring it back, please don’t bring it… come back and it lasts about two minutes. Make the right decisions! He is [Arteta] under massive pressure right now. ‘
Keown added that he understood why youngsters like Emile Smith-Rowe cannot be in such a desperate situation, but said people like Nicolas Pepe seem disinterested while summer signing Willian is “on vacation.”
“People are calling out to Emile Smith-Rowe and all these young people, but you can’t just throw them into this situation,” Keown continued.
“Some of the guys aren’t getting opportunities early enough, so all of a sudden we put Runarsson on the team when he’s not ready.
That has to depend on the manager. You really can’t go wrong from now on. With the January transfer window approaching, there can be no more mistakes.
“They paid £ 25 million for William Saliba and he has no squad number, Nicolas Pepe is wandering around like he’s not interested, Willian is on vacation.
‘You have to choose senior players that you can trust and instill the young children in that, with players who can acquire the right habits [from]. At the moment, it seems that the club is in free fall. ”
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
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