Paul Ince has slammed Granit Xhaka and Dani Ceballos for not doing enough in the absence of Thomas Partey after Arsenal was beaten 2-1 by Wolves on Sunday.
Thomas Partey has been missing in action since he got injured in Arsenal’s game against Aston Villa before the international break.
With the Gunners struggling for wins, Arteta will have been hopeful that his team would get back to winning ways in their game against Wolves last weekend.
He set up his team with Xhaka and Ceballos in midfield, but both players struggled to cope with Wolves and to protect their defence.
They also didn’t do much creatively, letting Wolves dictate the game from the middle.
Ince watched the game and slammed both players for being ineffective and being unable to recover well to shield the club’s defence, making the fact that Partey is missing obvious.
He put it across as a question to Ian Wright who agreed and says that it is a problem for Arsenal.
Ince told Premier League Productions via Express Sports: “When you look at the goals Arsenal concede and you talk about the midfield, it shows you how important Thomas Partey is because he’s got legs and that.
“But when you’ve got Ceballos and Xhaka in there, they don’t seem to be able to recover to get back into the right positions. Is that a problem?”
Wright replied: “I feel it is [a problem] and I feel that when they are that deep, they seem to have a real problem in getting closer.
So it’s the 4-2-3, they’re not getting close enough to the three so that they can pass the ball to the Willians and the Sakas, who can then release Aubameyang.
“It just seems like it’s very leggy, we haven’t got the legs to get up.
“That’s what I thought Joe Willock would have done today.
“He huffed and puffed a bit, I’d like to see him play a bit more, but unfortunately it didn’t quite happen for anyone at Arsenal today.”
Only 2?! 😄
2 many yes haha
More than 25% of the season gone and we are 14th…..Fulham are 2 wins away from us!
14th with 5 defeats 😳
While I am not a fan of Paul Ince, he is entirely justified in his criticism of Xhaka and Ceballos who are totally inept in both their attacking and defensive duties.The absence of Partey and indeed Elneny has really hurt us and in the matches against Leeds and Wolves we have been overrun.In the short term Arteta should play Elneny as a dedicated DM aided on either side by AMN and Willock in an uncomplicated 4-3-3 set up used by Leeds and Villa.Tactically we need to use our full backs to overlap but not if it leaves us exposed at the back.If Bellerin is upfield, Tierney should tuck in beside Gabriel, operating a hinge system which provides more defensive cover.Villa are using such a simple tactic very well with the primary role of their full backs being to defend.They do of course have a very efficient defensive midfielder in Luis who has energy to burn and an ability to retain possession in tight situations.The return of Partey will, I am sure, improve our midfield and hopefully restore confidence to the front three who are sadly lacking in that vital ingredient at present.
Lets hope the team regroups and rediscovers itself for the Spuds game, Arsenal starts firing again. Counter attack the Spuds, keep a compact formation of 343 and hit them on the break, belief is important.