Arsenal’s shock 2-1 defeat at home to Bournemouth on Saturday has prompted calls for Mikel Arteta to make major changes to his starting XI as the Reds risk missing out on the Premier League title.
Gabriel Martinelli was particularly poor against Bournemouth (Image: Pedro Porru/MB Media/Getty Images)
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has been told to let Gabriel Martinelli go following Saturday’s disastrous 2-1 home defeat to Bournemouth. The Gunners missed a chance to overwhelm the Emirates with goals from Eli Junior Crupi and Alex Scott and move 12 points clear at the top of the Premier League.
Martinelli, 24, was one of the big players who underperformed and was sent off after just 54 minutes with the score tied. Arteta brought on all three of his starters behind striker Victor Gokeres, but his substitutions proved fruitless as Bournemouth grabbed a late lead.
Substitutes included teenager Max Dowman, and despite failing to make an impact, former Premier League star Jay Bothroyd urged Arteta to start the 16-year-old in place of Martinelli, who only touched the ball nine times.
“I looked at the starting team today and thought: ‘Okay, Martinelli got an assist this week (against Sporting Lisbon), it was a great assist, but he wasn’t good enough this year,'” Bothroyd told Sky Sports.
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The former Arsenal striker said: “As far as I’m concerned, Max Domann needs to start. I don’t care anymore. Arsenal need to get over the line. When that kid plays, he’s fearless. He wants to hit the ball. He goes towards the players. He might lose, but he goes towards the players.”
Bothroyd went on to criticize Gökeres’ “stupid” excuse after the match that the pitch was too dry. “I went to the match and watched 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 are actually playing on the same pitch, I don’t know if you know that.”
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Max Dauman came on as a second-half substitute (Image: David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
“Both teams are working on it and Bournemouth took their chances when they came. I hear him talking about moving forward, because I think you need to take that into account in this situation, but at the same time you need to really analyze what happened today because it was really awful.”
“I think our xG (expected goals) in open play at home was 0.19. For a team with as many players as Arsenal, it’s not good enough. We still have a long way to go. It’s not good enough. Too often we find ourselves in situations where we’re just banging the ball up the pitch.”
“(David) Raya is literally touching the ball. He probably has the ball at his feet more than any other player on the pitch. And obviously he’s 80 yards from the goal. I don’t understand that.”
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