Arsenal’s shock 2-1 loss at home to Bournemouth on Saturday has prompted calls for Mikel Arteta to make significant changes to his starting XI, as they risk letting the Premier League title slip away
Gabriel Martinelli was particularly poor against Bournemouth(Image: Pedro Porru/MB Media/Getty Images)
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has been told to drop Gabriel Martinelli in the wake of Saturday’s disastrous 2-1 loss at home to Bournemouth. The Gunners missed the chance to go 12 points clear at the top of the Premier League table, as goals from Eli Junior Kroupi and Alex Scott stunned the Emirates.
Martinelli, 24, was one of several big-name players who underperformed and he was hauled off after just 54 minutes with the scores level. Arteta subbed off all three players who started behind striker Viktor Gyokeres, but his changes didn’t come to fruition as Bournemouth grabbed a late winner.
Teenager Max Dowman was among those replacements and despite failing an impact, ex-Premier League star Jay Bothroyd has urged Arteta to start the 16-year-old instead of Martinelli, who only touched the ball on nine occasions.
Bothroyd toll Sky Sports: “When I looked at that starting team today, I was thinking to myself, ‘Okay, Martinelli made an assist during the week (against Sporting Lisbon). It was a great assist. But he hasn’t been good enough this year’.”
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The former striker, who was a product of Arsenal’s academy, then said: “As far as I’m concerned, Max Dowman needs to start. I don’t care no more. Arsenal need to go over the line. That kid, when he plays, he’s fearless. He wants to ball. He goes at players. He might lose it, but he goes at them.”
Bothroyd went on to criticise Gyokeres’ ‘silly’ post-match excuse that the pitch was too dry. “I was at the game, I saw the pitch. The pitch looked perfect to me,” he added.
“The sprinklers were on before the game. They were on at half-time. Both teams actually play on that same pitch. I don’t know if you know that.
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“Both teams play on it, and Bournemouth took the opportunities when they came. I hear what he’s saying when he talks about being positive going forward, because I think in this situation, you kind of have to look at that, but at the same time, you really need to analyse what happened today because it was really poor.
“I think the xG (expected goals) was 0.19 in open play at home. That is just not good enough for a team of the calibre of players that Arsenal have. It’s just way off. It’s just not good enough. Too many times they get into a position where they are just knocking the ball around the pitch.
“(David) Raya is literally touching the ball. He has the ball at his feet, probably more than any other player on the pitch. And obviously, you’re 80 yards from goal. I don’t get that.”
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