Ian Wright surprised Mikel Arteta never used £16m Arsenal player at all vs Bayern

Wed 10 April 2024 10:35, UK

Ian Wright has named the Arsenal player he was surprised to see not play at all against Bayern Munich on Tuesday night.

Arsenal are perhaps slight underdogs af▨ter the first-leg of their Champions League quarter-final. Mikel Arteta’s side playe🌱d out a 2-2 draw with Bayern at the Emirates.

The Gunners demonstrated why they are battling to climb both the domestic and Europe🦄an mountains this season. But there were also some uncharacteristic mistakes from the Premier League leaders.

David Raya was🍌 all over the place for the equaliser. And Jakub Kiwior did not cover himself in glory up against Leroy Sane, with Sane winning the p🌺enalty that allowed Harry Kane to 🌱put Bayern in front.

Ian Wright surprised by Mikel Arteta’s decision on Takehiro Tomiyasu

Mikel Arteta decided to make a change at half-time, with Kiwior coming off. Interestingly, it was Oleksandr Zinchenko who replaced the Poland international.

Speaking on , Ian Wright was asked if he was surprised to see Zinchenko come on. And he suggested that he would have actually given Takehiro Tomiyasu a prominent role.

Photo by David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images

“A little bit, simply because th꧅e reason why I thought Zinchenko wouldn’t have started that game is because of the Sane effect,” he said.

“I꧟ thought Tomiyasuꦜ might have started the game if we’re talking about a one on one situation where somebody’s got to stop someone.

“I thought Kiwior, okay I’ll take that. But then you soon saw after a few minutes and the way it was shaping up, when you’re a winger and you get the ball into you and he’s not close enough or he’s not kicking you or he’s n𒊎ot doing something to make you feel a bit uncomfortable when you receive the ball, you get confidence as a winger. And what happened was I think Kiwior was stuck between do I go all the way in, or drop off of him because he can not only turn him, which we saw, but if he drops off with space, he’ll turn round and take him on with skill and pace.”

Arsenal boss’ decision for the second-leg now looks a simple one

There is no question that Zinchenko has played his part in elevating Arsenal. His arrivalꦰ from Manchester City – weeks after Gabriel Jesus made the same move – helped take the Gunners t🍌o that next level.

However, Arteta’s men are now a different animal to the one Zinchenko sig🃏ned for. And ther⭕e is an argument that the Ukrainian no longer gets in the Gunners’ best team.

It has been claimed that Zinche✨nko is now Arsenal’s weak link. Certainly, Tomiyasu seems🅺 to be the better defender. And he is able to play in that inverted role if required.