He didn’t even have as many touches as their custodian, and Arteta is threatening to use him against us the next week.- Man City manager Pep Guardiola thinks that if Arteta doesn’t improve on his lacklustre performance in the NLD, Arsenal won’t advance.
Arsenal’s past few weeks have not been easy.
In addition to Declan Rice’s dismissal from a 1-1 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion and the injury to new recruit Mikel Merino, they also suffered the loss of midfield maestro and club captain Martin Odegaard for at least three weeks while on international duty.
But Mikel Arteta has often demonstrated that he and his group can overcome hardship, and yesterday afternoon he led them to a 1-0 victory away from Tottenham Hotspur despite playing with a second-string midfield.
Though it wasn’t exactly a vintage offensive display, the team worked really hard for the Spaniard. However, Arteta ought to consider benching one of his starters, David Raya getting fewer touches than him, for this week’s Champions League opening.
Why Jorginho need to be fired
The guy in question is the Italian international Jorginho, and let’s just say that even if he didn’t play very well yesterday, he was chosen for the task, and considering the circumstances, he performed passably.
He was playing for the first time this season, thus he had some understandable but unavoidable limits to his game, which could prove expensive against Atalanta given his age.
For instance, the former Chelsea star only had 29 touches in his 95 minutes on the field—19 fewer than Raya in goal. In addition, he gave up two fouls, lost the ball eight times, dropped five out of eight duels, and by the time the game ended, he simply appeared completely worn out.
Actually, football exists for precisely these kinds of reasons.The 32-year-old received a 5/10 by Chief Arsenal writer Kaya Kaynak of London for the day, noting that “his lack of mobility really showed at times” and that “Kulusevski turned him very easily on a few occasions.”
Having said that, the midfield general battled for the club yesterday and demonstrated that he can still be an important member of Arteta’s team. However, his weariness and lack of movement cannot be disregarded, thus he should be left off the pitch for Thursday’s match.
The guy to take Jorginho’s place
Alright, so this shouldn’t surprise you, but given Arteta’s affection for Jorginho, it’s possible that he may start the Italian this week in Bergamo even though he shouldn’t.
For a few reasons, though, he ought to welcome Rice back into the fold.
The first is simple: starting in important European games against a side that won the Europa League the previous season, the Englishman should start because he is one of the nation’s most gifted midfielders.
For instance, even though he spent the majority of the 23/24 season playing as a traditional six, the 25-year-old, labelled “phenomenal” by reputable analyst EBL, contributed 10 assists and scored seven goals, demonstrating his value on both sides of the pitch.
The matchup with Manchester City this weekend is the second reason the 25-year-old should get the start.
The Englishman would face the Champions in his first Arsenal match in more than three weeks if he were to sit out the match against Atalanta, which looks unfavourable.
That doesn’t mean the former West Ham United captain has to play the whole match on Thursday either, but he has to get back into the lineup and play competitive football before Sunday’s big showdown.
In the end, Jorginho performed admirably yesterday afternoon, even though he only received a 5/10. However, given Rice’s extraordinary skill and the impending match against City, he ought to start this week in the Champions League.
