Gary Neville has revealed that he was told Riccardo Calafiori was sacrificed early against West Ham rather than being injured.
Ben White went off injured during the first half, and rather unusually, Declan Rice was moved to right-back.
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Jurrien Timber remains sidelined!
But at half-time, Mikel Arteta moved to fix that by withdrawing the Italian defender, moving Myles Lewis-Skelly to left back and Cristhian Mosquera to right-back.
Arsenal fans will have been concerned that the Italian international may have suffered a new injury, but their fears have been quickly reassured.
Gary Neville says Arsenal’s Riccardo Calafiori is not injured
Gary Neville has revealed that Arsenal decided to sacrifice Riccardo Calafiori to allow Rice to move back into midfield.
The 23-year-old was taken off at halftime, as Arteta opted for a big shuffle during the interval at the break.
Speaking about the sub on Sky Sports, Neville said: “I’ve just been told Calafiori is not injured.”
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The former Manchester United defender was slightly concerned about Calafiori being subbed off as he was doing a great job on Jarrod Bowen.
“He was substituted. Bowen was very quiet in the first half, so that’s a big loss,” added Neville.
Arsenal were so much worse after Ben White went off
Arsenal proved to be so much worse after White went off, as they managed fewer passes without the 28-year-old.
Before the defender was forced off, BBC Sport stats show that Arsenal made 149 passes and 91 passes in the opposition half in the opening 27 minutes.
However, that then dropped to 107 passes and just 52 in West Ham’s half in the period following the defender’s withdrawal.
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