Rio Ferdinand admitted he was surprised by two of Mikel Arteta’s tactical decisions following Arsenal’s defeat to Newcastle on Saturday.
Alexander Isak scored the only goal of the game as the Magpies saw out a 1-0 win at St James’ Park to extend the Gunners’ recent poor run of form.
Arsenal have now picked up just one point from their last three games and have fallen seven points behind league-leaders Liverpool.
Injuries and knocks to key defensive personnel, including Riccardo Calafiori and Ben White, has forced Arteta into a defensive reshuffle in recent games.
Despite that, Ferdinand was still surprised by how Arteta decided to line up on Saturday and urged the Spaniard not to overthink his selection decisions going forward.
’I’ve never really questioned his decision-making up to this point but looking at the substitutions and the players he had available I was surprised at some of the decisions he made this weekend,’ he said in his latest YouTube video.
‘In the full-back area, [Jurrien] Timber is playing left back when you have [Oleksandr] Zinchenko on the bench. Thomas Partey is playing out of position at right-back instead of in midfield too.
‘We’ve seen him do it before and it has worked but when you are down to the bare bones with injuries you have to play the players who are available in their natural positions.’
Ferdinand, though, did concede that many had underestimated how much the absence of Martin Odegaard would affect Arsenal and said Arteta will be relishing the return of his captain.
‘I didn’t anticipate him being this important,’ he said.
‘I think he’s a top player and he’s pivotal to what Arsenal do and he’s proved the most important player that they could have missed.
‘Other players you can bring in – a centre-back can stop chances here and there – but one of the hardest things to do is score goals and before that, you have to create opportunities.
‘He is the tempo-maker in the team, he helps you retain the ball better than anyone else in the team and then it’s about that big of magic at the end to create the chance.
‘I keep seeing people, “It’s a no.9 [that Arsenal need]”. You’re not creating chances. You can have the best number nine there but you’re not getting the ball to him.’
Arsenal will look to get back to winning ways in the Champions League on Wednesday when they travel to face Inter Milan.
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