Ex-Chelsea man ‘surprised’ by big ‘risk’ Mikel Arteta took during Arsenal v Lens

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Former Chelsea striker Chris Sutton has expressed his surprise at one decision Mikel Arteta made during Arsenal’s thrashing of Lens.

Mikel Arteta named a strong Arsenal starting XI to face Lens in their Champions League group stage clash on Wednesday.

The manager was rewarded for this, as the Gunners ripped the French outfit apart, coasting to a 6-0 victory and securing their passage to the knockout rounds of the competition as group winners.

The job was done at half-time. The north London club were 5-0 up at the break, and the manager did take that opportunity to make changes. The two full-backs were switched out, with Ben White and Jakub Kiwior coming on for Takehiro Tomiyasu at right-back and Oleksandr Zinchenko at left-back, respectively. 

This was likely to protect Tomiyasu and Zinchenko ahead of Arsenal’s Premier League clash with Wolves on Saturday. Plenty of fans are certainly eager to see the Japanese defender start in that match after he impressed against Lens.

Mikel Arteta questioned for hesitancy to take off Bukayo Saka and co

However, Arteta was not too hasty to shuffle his pack entirely, despite the game being all but won. Key figures such as Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, and Gabriel Jesus were left on the pitch heading into the second half, despite rotation options such as Jorginho, Mohamed Elneny, Leandro Trossard, Reiss Nelson, and Eddie Nketiah being on the bench.

Chris Sutton felt that Arteta should have taken steps to protect some of his key players quicker. As quoted by BBC Sport, the pundit said, “I’m a little surprised Mikel Arteta has left Martinelli, Saka and Rice on. Is it a bit of risk leaving your big guns on when the game is already done?”

Whilst Martinelli did play the full 90 minutes, Saka and Rice were both eventually replaced. Nelson came on for the winger after 66 minutes, whilst Jorginho took up the former West Ham man’s berth at the base of the midfield with 75 minutes on the clock.

The Italy international was able to make his mark on the match, as he rounded off the scoring from the penalty spot in the 86th minute. 

Arsenal fringe players need vital minutes

It was particularly surprising to see Saka stay on as long as he did, considering he was being targeted for some rough treatment by the Lens defenders and went down hurt a number of times. However, after the match, the 22-year-old admitted to TNT Sports that he was not happy to be brought off and had wanted to stay on until the final whistle. 

Arteta made the right call in getting him off the pitch, though, as Saka is too important to risk unnecessarily. The manager should perhaps have removed him from the firing line even earlier. What’s more, it is important to get some minutes and a sense of involvement into some of the fringe players in the squad, as they could be needed to step up on a regular basis at any moment.