Rio Ferdinand has branded the performance of Pablo Mari against Romelu Lukaku an “embarrassment.”
Mari is one of Mikel Arteta’s most trusted players and the Spaniard has been decent with the ball at his feet.
His ball-playing ability is one reason why Mikel Arteta signed him and keeps using him.
He has managed to keep his place in the team so far but has struggled in the games against Brentford and Chelsea.
Against the Blues, they tasked him with playing against Romelu Lukaku and he came out second best against the big Belgian.
Lukaku scored Chelsea’s opener and was a handful to Mari for much of the game, with the Arsenal man losing the physical battle to him in the game as well.
Former Manchester United defender, Ferdinand criticised Arsenal for their defending in the match, but singled out Mari for his poor performance against the former Inter Milan and Manchester United striker.
‘He [Lukaku] bullies people, he was like a sixth former playing against first years,’ Ferdinand said on his FIVE Youtube channel.
‘That’s what he made the Arsenal centre-backs look like, they didn’t know how to deal with him.
‘[Pablo] Mari was an embarrassment, he didn’t know what to do.’