Martin Keown has stated that Joe Willock has to be considered for a role alongside Thomas Partey and Mo Elneny in the Arsenal midfield.
The Gunners boss Mikel Arteta has been trying out a 4-3-3 formation in recent weeks, in what could be taken as a failed experiment against Leicester. The result didn’t go our way, but the reality is that we heavily dominated in large spells of the 90 minutes, and you wouldn’t be shocked to see the system come back into play.
Joe Willock has been thoroughly impressing in recent weeks, with two eye-opening displays against Dundalk and Molde of late, and you would have to believe those performances have not gone unnoticed by the boss.
Martin Keown has certainly sat up and taken note, and has labelled him as a player who looks to ‘make the difference’, and believes he has to be considered to play ahead of both Xhaka and Ceballos in a midfield three.
Keown said on BT Sport’s Europa League show (via TheSun):“He wants to make the difference, he’s got great technique and drive and they need to make use of that for the first time. He’s finding the extra gears and he’s maturing nicely. If he’s not getting the chances, is he going to have to go on loan?”
“We don’t know. He’s going to let the manager decide. The shape – they now want to play two, Elneny and Partey in that five. If he wants a third player Willock has to come into his thinking.”
“He’s got to be one of the first on the list to put those two under pressure. We have to work out a pathway for him to get in that first-team, if he has to go on loan – he’s not far away from getting it right.”
Does the youngster deserve more chances in the first-team after his displays? Could he be best used in a midfield three?
Patrick