Arsenal: French press slam ‘3/10’ trio with reason given for Arteta ‘failing’ – ‘so unremarkable’
French outlet L’Equipe have brutally hit out at Arsenal and head coach Mikel Arteta following their exit from the Champions League.
The Gunners were deservedly beaten 3-1 on aggregate by Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League semi-finals, with Luis Enrique’s team comfortably the better side.
PSG took a 1-0 aggregate lead into the second leg and added to their lead in the early stages of Wednesday night’s game, with Fabian Ruiz netting a stunning goal from distance.
Achraf Hakimi added PSG’s third before Bukayo Saka netted a consolation as Arteta‘s side failed to complete a late comeback, as they are condemned to another trophyless season.
Arteta is under heavy scrutiny and L’Equipe gave him a ‘4/10’ rating, claiming he he ‘had no plan B’.
‘It feels like he had a plan A but no plan B, unable to adapt to PSG’s opening goal,’ L’Equipe wrote.
‘He waited until Paris were awarded a penalty (69th minute) to make his first changes while his team was struggling, but he failed to give his team a second wind.’
The newspaper also had harsh words for Myles Lewis-Skelly, Thomas Partey and Mikel Merino, who were given ‘3/10’ ratings for their second leg displays.
Starting with Lewis-Skelly, L’Equipe claimed the 18-year-old went from ‘brilliant to unremarkable in the semi-final’.
‘So brilliant in the quarterfinal against Real, so unremarkable in the semi-final,’ L’Equipe wrote on Lewis-Skelly.
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‘He lost too many balls, including one very close call (30th minute), and most importantly, he conceded a penalty for a handball (64th minute) that could have ended the Gunners’ last hopes. Replaced by Calafiori (68th minute).’
On Partey, the newspaper added: ‘His performance is hampered by his involvement in both Parisian goals, as his central header led to Fabian Ruiz’s goal (27th minute, 1-0), and he was beaten by Ousmane Dembélé for Achraf Hakimi’s goal (72nd minute, 2-0).
‘The Ghanaian, who was highly anticipated, also lost numerous balls (19), distinguishing himself only by his long throw-ins (5th, 8th minute), which temporarily sowed discord in the Parisian defence.’
Regarding Merino, they added: ‘No shots on target, 11 lost balls, only 19% of duels won…
‘The Spaniard struggled throughout the match, preferring to drop forward too much, when he would have been better off staying close to the goal to meet Saka’s numerous crosses at the end of the first half.
‘He also completely missed a pass for Gabriel Martinelli at a time when Arsenal were pushing (61st minute).’
