Paul Merson has ripped into Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta for his decision to start Alex Runarsson in midweek.
The Gunners were thumped 4-1 by Manchester City in the quarter-final of the League Cup.
Runarsson didn’t help Arsenal’s cause with the soft goal he conceded through Riyad Mahrez after the break, allowing the free kick to squirm through his gloves.
The Arsenal head coach played number one Bernd Leno in the previous round against Liverpool and although Runarsson is a full Iceland international, this was his first game against Premier League opposition after playing mainly against Europa League minnows since arriving in North London this past summer.
And Merson, writing in The Star, has described it as a ‘shocker’ from Arteta to start the 25-year-old, whom he claimed would’ve been completely ‘petrified’.
He said: “I feel for Runarsson. He was probably petrified. He made a mistake and it’s set him back. But it’s a shocker from Arteta.”
Runarsson faced a backlash on social media and wound up deleting his Twitter account after a bit of stick from Arsenal fans, which is unnecessary.
Then again, Arteta has to live and die by his own decisions and if he felt the Icelandic stopper was a better option than Leno on the day, it has to be respected.
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