Arsenal coach Albert Stuivenberg was spotted talking to Noni Madueke at full-time of the win against Aston Villa.
Madueke avoided a career first and made his first Premier League appearance for Arsenal after spending three consecutive league games on the bench.
Having not appeared in the Premier League for some time, there was hope that Madueke would be hungry to make an impact, but that was far from the case.
On X, popular Arsenal account LTArsenal noted that at full-time, Stuivenberg appeared to give Madueke a ‘dressing down’, which is something that some fans admitted they expected.
Who was Arsenal’s Man of the Match against Aston Villa?
Arsenal fans were not happy with Madueke’s performance against Aston Villa
Madueke is loving life at Arsenal following his transfer from Chelsea in the summer, but he has to do more on the pitch if he is to be fully accepted by Mikel Arteta.
There’s one demand Arteta has for his wingers above anything else, and that is to contribute defensively.
Bukayo Saka is fantastic at defending on the flanks to take the workload from the fullbacks, but Madueke has not quite mastered the skill yet.
After the Villa win, plenty of fans took to X to respond to reports that Stuivenberg was unhappy with the winger’s defensive contribution.
“Much needed. You can’t come and jog around when you are playing for a team challenging [for the] title,” one said.
Another wrote, “You could see his loose passes and lack of defensive effort. Not the player we can rely on in games like these.”
Madueke didn’t do enough to impress Arsenal fans against Villa, with supporters particularly unhappy with his passiveness when the visitors scored late on.
“The goal was his fault. Lazy with the ball, then half-hearted press and then didn’t get back, giving everyone else more work to do.”
One X user added, “That pass was crazy, and he couldn’t even mark the ball that led to the goal. I find it ugly from him tho.”
Being a player who needs to impress to earn minutes, some fans were surprised by Madueke’s attitude when he came on.
“Looked uninterested and annoyed didn’t like his attitude today,” one Arsenal fan said, while others agreed.
“I thought it was just me that noticed his slackness when he came on. He needed to be a professional and see the game out.”
There’s a reason why Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke have had their minutes reduced
It wasn’t only a punishing night for Madueke, as several Arsenal players faced problems against Aston Villa.
One of them was Eberechi Eze, who hasn’t been playing much in recent weeks, but just like Madueke, it’s clear to see why.
Fill in the blank: Right now, I feel ____________ about Eberechi Eze’s lack of game time at Arsenal…
The last time Eze featured in the Premier League was during Arsenal’s defeat to Aston Villa at Villa Park, where he was caught out defensively by failing to mark Matty Cash, who scored Villa’s opener.
Lapses in defensive concentration will not be ignored by Arteta, as Eze and Madueke are finding out the hard way.
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