Speaking on BT Sport’s coverage of Olympiacos vs Arsenal (11/3/20 8PM kick-off), Martin Keown has given his view on Mikel Arteta’s to bring Dani Ceballos on against Olympiacos.
The Gunners weren’t home and dry in the game when Ceballos was brought on, and Keown clearly feels that the manager should have been a bit more conservative with his substitution, bringing someone on who could shore up the midfield rather than a creative player.
“By nature, I’m naturally concerned. They’re looking to keep a clean sheet and what had happened to Ceballos before. This is where Leno isn’t learning from mistakes that he’s made. He did something similar against Burnley,” Keown said when asked about his concerns with Ceballos coming on.
“I’m blaming Leno for that, Ceballos, yes I was worried to see him coming on because he’d made mistakes against Benfica, maybe Elneny would have been a better choice to come on and sew things up.”
The Arsenal legend clearly doesn’t think that bringing Ceballos on was the right call at that time.
Of course, Arsenal went on to win 3-1, so it wasn’t a substitution that cost Arsenal dearly, but perhaps the Gunners would have been able to preserve their clean sheet if Elneny was brought on instead of Ceballos at that time.
Luckily, it seems as though the Gunners will progress through safely to the next round, scoring three away goals in a game they comfortably won.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
