Danny Murphy has criticised Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta for his team selection on Sunday.
The Gunners enjoyed a ding-dong battle against West Ham United in East London yesterday.
Arteta’s side were three goals behind inside the first 32 minutes but, credit to Arsenal, they fought back to earn a 3-3 draw.
Their last domestic game was a visit of Tottenham Hotspur in a North London derby, which they won 2-1.
But the Spaniard, with one eye on the Europa League, dropped a few players who started the Spurs win, including swapping Gabriel Magalhaes – who cost £27 million last summer – for Pablo Mari.
And Murphy, speaking to talkSPORT, has intimated that Arteta got his team selection wrong for Arsenal on Sunday, arguing that the big Brazilian centre-back is a much better defender than Mari.
He said: “He [Arteta] has to take some responsibility. Gabriel did as good a job on Kane as I’ve seen any centre-half do and he puts Mari back in. He’s not as good. I’m sorry, he’s not as good.”
Is Murphy right? Yep, but you can’t fault Arteta.
Arsenal’s Premier League campaign has been a write-off since December. This season is all about winning the Europa League and if Arteta wants to rotate in the lesser games, it’s smart, even if they drop points in games that they should be winning.
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