Former Tottenham Hotspur attacker Darren Bent has hit out at Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta, saying the Spaniard is being ‘arrogant’ with his team selections.
Bent believes Arteta made a mistake in picking both Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli for Arsenal’s recent Premier League 2-2 draw with Chelsea due to the injury concerns surrounding the two forwards.
“There have been times where I think [Mikel] Arteta has been a little bit arrogant in the way he’s picked his teams,” Bent told Premier League Productions.
“I mean, I don’t think Martinelli looked particularly fit [against Chelsea], I don’t think Saka looked fit, and I don’t know if they are still carrying knocks but they just didn’t look like they had the same pop they usually have when they get the ball.
“But certainly in midfield, when you look at the Thomas Partey situation for instance, now he was brilliant last season, had injuries towards the end and wasn’t the same after that but it’s almost like you want to see Rice, Partey and Odegaard.
“We saw it against Manchester City towards the end and they controlled the game, it looked a lot calmer. But for whatever reason Mikel Arteta doesn’t want to play those three, okay, that’s fair enough.”
Meanwhile, Arsenal won 2-1 in their Champions League clash against Sevilla on Tuesday.