According to The Athletic, Mikel Arteta was left ‘gesticulating furiously’ at something he saw Dani Ceballos doing in the 3-0 defeat to Liverpool.
In their article, The Athletic reference a sequence of play which occurred in the 15th minute at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.
It showed Ceballos failing to get close to Thiago Alcântara, who orchestrated the game in the first-half with 40 successful passes – more than double that of any Arsenal midfielder.
Sat behind the dugout, The Athletic were paying close attention to Arteta’s instructions, and it was clear the Spaniard wanted his No.8 to press Thiago and stop him from dictating things.
However, Ceballos clearly wasn’t doing enough, leaving Arteta ‘gesticulating furiously’ before withdrawing the 24-year-old at half-time for Mohamed Elneny.
The Athletic write that Arteta was shouting “Dani, cerca!” which translates to ‘close’ – a clear instruction to follow, in our view.
In our view, this could spell trouble for Ceballos.
Arteta has already shown his ruthless side when axing Shkodran Mustafi, Mesut Özil and Sead Kolasinac in January, and he seems to be running out of patience with Ceballos.
The Spaniard is only on loan from Real Madrid, and if he keeps frustrating his manager, it feels unlikely that Arsenal will keep him around for next season.
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