Frank Leboeuf has admitted to ESPN that he was puzzled by one Mikel Arteta decision in Arsenal’s defeat on Saturday.
The Gunners lost 1-0 away to Aston Villa yesterday afternoon for their second loss in the space of three days, having gone down at Wolves in midweek.
Arsenal were chasing the game for 88 minutes after Ollie Watkins’s opener but Arteta’s side struggled to create much.
The Spaniard took Alexandre Lacazette off for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on 59 minutes but it still had little impact on the North Londoners’ attack.
Lacazette is Arsenal’s top goalscorer this season with 10 and the World Cup winner from 1998 has conceded that he was perplexed to see Arteta haul him off.
He said: “Sometimes I don’t understand Arteta. They’re 1-0 down and he’s making changes with Aubameyang for Lacazette, who can be the real leader for the attack and knows, on top of scoring goals, can give assists.”
Aubameyang is a far better goalscorer than the former Lyon hitman but let’s face it, five goals in 19 Premier League games this season illustrates that he’s gone off the boil in a major way.
Lacazette is clearly the more dangerous player for the Gunners this season and therefore LeBoeuf is right, it is difficult to understand Arteta’s reasoning.
Arsenal are 10th in the Premier League table.
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