Arsenal have come under heavy scrutiny after their recent disappointing loss
Declan Rice was mentioned when analysing Arsenal’s potential transfers(Image: AFP or licensors)
Arsenal continue to be criticised for their brand of football in the wake of their dismal Carabao Cup final defeat to Manchester City. Mikel Arteta’s side on Sunday suffered a 2-0 loss at Wembley Stadium, where they were on the back foot for much of the second half.
The Gunners’ challenge for four separate titles came to a disappointing end, with their offensive weaknesses once again highlighted ahead of a crucial point in the season. Following the international break, Arsenal will need to rally and prevent the psychological blow of the defeat from derailing their Premier League title charge.
Arteta’s men are currently nine points clear of City in the table, while they also have a favourable Champions League quarter-final draw against Sporting CP to come. Ahead of their next game, an FA Cup quarter-final visit to Southampton, Mirror Football takes a look at two of the latest stories involving the north Londoners.
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Rice transfer issue
Former England and Tottenham midfielder Chris Waddle has questioned whether Arsenal need to sign Sandro Tonali when they already have Declan Rice. The Gunners were heavily linked with a move for Tonali in January following an injury to Mikel Merino but Newcastle were not willing to let one of their key players leave.
Yet, both Arsenal and Manchester United continue to be linked with the Magpies midfielder, who is valued at around £100m. Despite the Italian’s obvious quality, however, Waddle believes Arsenal don’t need the player given how similar he is in his style of play to Rice.
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Waddle told FootballTransfers: “They’ve got Declan Rice and they’ve got Martin Zubimendi, who’s a very good player. But Arsenal seem to collect players.
“Tonali has had a couple of great seasons, he’s got better this season. He’s a good age and I’m not surprised there’s a lot of clubs interested in him.
“He’s a very economical player, he’s a little bit like Declan Rice, let’s be honest, he’s very consistent with his pass ratio, he’s got a good shot and he’s got a good engine.
“In my mind, he’s a very similar player to Declan Rice, though. Do Arsenal really need another player like that? I know squads strengthen every year and that’s how football moves on.”
Saka ‘lost’
Manchester United legend Paul Scholes has blamed Arsenal’s style of play for Bukayo Saka’s struggles this season. Saka’s stats this season have notably dropped off compared to last term, with the England winger managing just nine goal involvements across all competitions so far.
He was once again ineffective in the recent Carabao Cup final defeat, which pundit Scholes puts down to Arsenal’s failure to build attacks effectively, leading to Saka barely receiving the ball in dangerous areas.
Scholes said on The Good, The Bad and The Football podcast: “Their better players just weren’t performing. You talk about these forward players not performing but you have to look at your midfield players and your centre-halves, they couldn’t get the ball to them.
“Did you see the bit where Bernardo Silva sprinted out to try to stop it going for a corner? Even when you’re playing against it, you don’t want to give it away.
“It’s almost like playing against Stoke what we did years ago, sometimes because the throw-ins were that good the manager told us to kick it out for a corner because of [Rory] Delap, because the delivery is not as good.
“What we’re saying is, I think they’ve become obsessed with it. They’ve forgotten about the other way that they can actually score goals.
“They’ve got good players. You’ve got Saka who looks lost at the minute because they can’t get the ball to him, more than anything, he’s got great ability.”
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