Rio Ferdinand has claimed that Mikel Arteta‘s players cannot be trusted, and that his success at Arsenal will come down to who is brought in this summer.
The Gunners currently occupy tenth place in the Premier League table after a number of inconsistent displays, and all-too often we have seen impressive performances followed by below-par displays.
One could argue that the quick turnaround of matches would be a fair excuse for the struggles of teams consistent levels of performance, but Rio Ferdinand simply believes that Arsenal’s players do not listen.
The former Man United defender claimed that Mikel Arteta could give the ideal teamtalk, and not know whether his players will react as they should, likening them to a ‘promiscuous girlfriend’.
‘They should definitely have had a penalty, the decision was a disgrace, VAR has become a laughing stock, it’s ruining our game,’ said Ferdinand on his Vibe with FIVE YouTube series.
‘But it doesn’t paper over the cracks at Arsenal. They had all the chances to finish the game off, they could have finished the game off well before.’
He continued: ‘If [Bukayo] Saka’s not doing it, Arsenal haven’t performed this year.
‘But Arteta must look at the squad like a promiscuous girlfriend. He just must lack so much trust and faith in them. He can’t trust them at all, because he doesn’t know what’s going to happen at the moment.
‘He could do the best team talk of his life but they’re going to go out there and do their own thing and it doesn’t seem to be coming together.
‘The mad thing is I like Arsenal, I love some of the players there: Auba, Saka, Martinelli, Smith Rowe. I can go on and on with all these names.
‘Partey, that’s another one, he’s never fit! He keeps coming back and breaking down!
‘They’ve got good players there but for some reason, I don’t know what’s happening, it just isn’t coming together consistently at the moment.’
Seems a little strange to claim that Arteta is doing everything right, but his players don’t react to teamtalks, or has Rio actually witnessed one of his teamtalks?
There is a lack of consistency, but that is the case for more teams than usual which is most likely due to the hectic schedule.
Do we really think this team/squad isn’t good enough for the top six? Is Arteta getting too much leeway here?
Patrick