‘The meltdown will be epic’ – Arteta told six Arsenal players ‘didn’t turn up’ against Man City

Former Premier League striker Troy Deeney insists six Arsenal players “didn’t turn up” in their 2-1 defeat to Manchester City on Sunday.

Erling Haaland’s second-half strike was the difference between the sides as the Citizens took all three points in a potentially title-defining match at the Etihad Stadium.

Kai Havertz had cancelled out Rayan Cherki’s spectacular opener by pouncing on a Gianluigi Donnarumma mistake in the first half but Arsenal missed a number of chances before Haaland settled the match.

Man City are now just three points behind Arsenal with a game in hand, and will go top of the Premier League if they beat Burnley at Turf Moor on Wednesday night.

It was an improved performance from some of the disappointing displays in recent weeks from Arsenal but Deeney still thinks six players let Mikel Arteta down.

Deeney said on CBS Sports: “We talk about how great Manchester City are but you have to say Noni Madueke didn’t turn up, Martin Zubimendi didn’t turn up, Martin Odegaard didn’t turn up, Cristhian Mosquera didn’t turn up, Piero Hincapie didn’t turn up.

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“And arguably, he’s a friend of mine, Declan Rice didn’t turn up.

“When Arsenal have this many players not turning up and putting in a level of performance in that you would expect, you have to question it, you have top question where they were.”

Predicting an “epic meltdown” on social media from Arsenal fans, Deeney added: “This has created a wonderful storyline but also, I’ve been trying to keep it in and be respectful, but the Arsenal meltdown will be epic. The online meltdown will be epic.

“I think the difference now for Arsenal is that normally that Newcastle game would be a really difficult game.

“But everything that’s going on with Eddie Howe and Newcastle being all over the place at the moment, that’s become a lot easier.

“Fulham, West Ham, Burnley and Crystal Palace: you would normally say job done, you know they’re going to win.

“But West Ham have a bit of form and they’re fighting for their lives. Fulham and Marco Silva have had this weird season where they’ve not really done anything.”

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Deeney reckons Arteta could be forced to prioritise either the Premier League or Champions League in order to ensure Arsenal don’t end the season without silverware.

He continued: “In the middle of this there’s the Champions League semi-finals and you have to prioritise one of the two. I don’t think, with what we’re seeing at the moment, that Arsenal can keep running these players into the ground and keep doing it.

“Manchester City on the other hand, all they have to worry about now is the Premier League. Obviously there’s the FA Cup, but if they win this Premier League, with this squad…

“He could put James Trafford in, Tijjani Reijnders in, John Stones, Omar Marmoush, Nico Gonzalez, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Savinho, Phil Foden for the FA Cup and that’s still an unbelievable team.

“But these Premier League games have all become a bit more difficult for City and I still think there’s a bit of a twist in this between Arsenal and Manchester City.”

On the key men for Man City, Deeney said: “These guys [Doku, Cherki and Semenyo] won it for Manchester City. They were able to take Arsenal deep into the box.

“This area [right-back] has been a problem for Arsenal, whether it’s been Mosquera, whether it’s been Ben White. Mosquera got a yellow card within the first 20 minutes and he couldn’t really get tight then.

“I was a little bit disappointed, Doku could have got at Mosquera a lot more and actually the goal was the first time he gets at him.

“But when you have this player Cherki, it doesn’t matter. He’s by far Manchester City’s best player at the moment and he also adds something different.”

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