Arsenal have so far lost seven out of their first 12 Premier League games this season and next up, they take on Southampton, a club who are fourth on the table.
Mikel Arteta ended the 2019-20 season on a high but over the past couple of months, nothing has gone right for the Arsenal manager and there are even rumours of him getting the sack.
So naturally, at this time of crisis, the manager will have to take some bold decision and according to pundit Ian Wright, one of them should be to drop some of the deadwood from the starting XI.
“He [Xhaka] got sent off doing what he does a lot, when a player is going past him he drags them down, he’s never in the right position, he’s always having to drag people down and make fouls, and he’s done it again and it cost us,” Wright told Premier League Productions, as reported.
“The manager has stuck with him for a while. He has shown a lot of faith in him. I think he has done the same with Willian.
“He has done the same with Lacazette. There are players now that should be getting a blast at it now.
“Throw in Eddie Nketiah, Emile Smith-Rowe coming back on-loan and doing well at Huddersfield last season. Joe Willock, Ainsley Maitland-Niles.
“You need to do something different because if it carries on like this and he continues to have faith in these players, and they are not delivering, then I don’t know what’s going to happen next.”
When things aren’t going your way, one should always be willing to mix and match. But we don’t think Arteta will dare to drop players like Willian and Lacazette against Southampton – more so since Arsenal will take on Everton and Chelsea in their next two league games.
If Arsenal fail to pick up three points against the Saints in midweek then by the time they head into the new year, the Gunners could very well be involved in a relegation battle.
Hence quite evidently, the manager will want his star players on the pitch this midweek meaning the likes of Nketiah and Smith-Rowe will start on the bench and might come on as second-half subs.
