‘Surprised’ Ferdinand slams Arteta over two decisions as Arsenal lost to Newcastle
Rio Ferdinand was “surprised” by two decisions Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta made as he selected his side for the 1-0 defeat to Newcastle over the weekend.
The Gunners made a promising start to the new campaign in their first seven matches but their form has dipped over the last three fixtures.
Arteta’s men have taken just one point from matches against Bournemouth, Liverpool and Newcastle and have dropped down the table to fifth place.
Nottingham Forest and Chelsea moved above them in the Premier League standings after their narrow loss at St James’ Park on Saturday.
Arsenal are still five points behind second-placed Manchester City – who lost to Bournemouth over the weekend – while leaders Liverpool increased the gap to seven points on Arteta’s side.
And Manchester United legend Ferdinand thinks Arteta only has himself to blame for the result against the Magpies as he made two questionable selection decisions.
Ferdinand said on his YouTube channel: “I’ve never really questioned his decision-making up to this point but looking at the substitutions and the players he had available I was surprised at some of the decisions he made this weekend.
“In the full-back area, [Jurrien] Timber is playing left back when you have [Oleksandr] Zinchenko on the bench. Thomas Partey is playing out of position at right-back instead of in midfield too.
“We’ve seen him do it before and it has worked but when you are down to the bare bones with injuries you have to play the players who are available in their natural positions.”
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Arsenal are missing Martin Odegaard through injury and Ferdinand admits he underestimated how much Arteta and the Gunners would miss their captain.
Ferdinand added: “I didn’t anticipate him being this important.
“I think he’s a top player and he’s pivotal to what Arsenal do and he’s proved the most important player that they could have missed.
“Other players you can bring in – a centre-back can stop chances here and there – but one of the hardest things to do is score goals and before that, you have to create opportunities.
“He is the tempo-maker in the team, he helps you retain the ball better than anyone else in the team and then it’s about that big of magic at the end to create the chance.
“I keep seeing people, “It’s a no.9 [that Arsenal need]”. You’re not creating chances. You can have the best number nine there but you’re not getting the ball to him.”
