Martin Zubimendi’s Arsenal career so far has been a roaring success but against Manchester United, he came under the spotlight for the first time in a negative way.
Zubimendi was blamed by many for gifting United their equaliser when he misplaced a return pass towards William Saliba and David Raya.
From there, the Spaniard went into his shell a touch as Arsenal failed to get control of the game and ultimately, lose.
Arsenal fans: What would YOU have told the team after the defeat to Man United?
Zubimendi will, of course, look to bounce back and Arsenal fans will be hoping both he and the rest of the team put things right at Leeds.
Interestingly though, former Spurs boss Tim Sherwood had an observation on Zubimendi from that game.
What Martin Zubimendi did against Man United that was so rare
Martin Zubimendi has been great all season and for anyone to jump on and criticise him at this point would be harsh.
However, he does need to up things a bit from that United performance.
Still, it won’t take much for him to get back to being at his best, as Sherwood pointed out with his passing mistake for the Mbeumo goal.
“And I was going to that game I saying it’s a Zubimendi pass where Saliba tries to play a one-two. I’m not sure where Saliba’s deciding to run to,” Sherwood commented for Premier League Productions.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen him give the ball away all season. And it’s two 35 yard strikes. You know, they got battered Man United in the first half hour of that game. Arsenal were in total control. All right, they weren’t creating too many chances and they have to rely on a set piece again.
“But it transpired against them. Luck wasn’t with them. And I give Man United credit.”
Martin Zubimendi’s passing stats this season
Mikel Arteta signed Zubimendi for his calmness in possession and ability to dictate things and create.
So far, Zubimendi has done that and we’ve seen quite clearly why he is one of the top-rated midfielders to come out of Spain in recent seasons.
In terms of his passing this season, he is right up there in terms of the important metrics.
| Metric | Result (Premier League) |
| Pass completion % | 88.9% |
| Successful passes | 1194 |
| Passes into final third | 264 |
| Long pass accuracy % | 49.4 |
| Chances created | 15 |
Clearly, Zubimendi is doing the business and that mistake against United should be a one-off.
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