Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was not happy with Albert Sambi Lokonga in the FA Cup tie against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Friday evening, according to Football.London.
The Gunners went down 1-0 to Premier League rivals Manchester City in the fourth round of the FA Cup at the Etihad Stadium.
Nathan Ake scored the only goal of the match in the second half.
Lokonga came on as a substitute for Thomas Partey at half time.
Mikel Arteta not happy with Arsenal’s Albert Sambi Lokonga
According to Football.London, Arsenal manager Arteta was not particularly happy with the 23-year-old Belgium international and even snapped at him at one point.
“Each time he received possession Lokonga never looked to quite have the ball fully under control,” states the report.
“Where once there was a confident progressive passer, now the 23-year-old is now content far too often to go backwards and sideways.
“This was much to the frustration of his manager who at one point snapped on the touchline as Lokonga opted to turn back towards Takehiro Tomiyasu when the option to release Bukayo Saka was on.”
Need to improve
In our view, Albert Sambi Lokonga needs to do much better than he did for Arsenal against Manchester City.
The 23-year-old needs to understand his role and position better in the middle of the park, and he also needs to pass the ball forward.
Now, you could say that Lokonga struggled because he is not getting a run of games.
Yes, that is true, but the midfielder also needs to take the chances that he gets.
And let us not forget that the 23-year-old is training regularly.
We know that Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta rates the Belgian highly.
After all, Arteta described Lokonga as “a very intelligent player who has shown great maturity in his performances during his development” on Arsenal’s official website in July 2021 when he joined the Gunners.
It is up to the youngster to do his best and make the most of the chances he gets at Arsenal.
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