‘Get out my way’ – Arsenal stars frustrated by teammate who can’t do what Tottenham men can
Jamie Redknapp feels Arsenal midfield players would be hoping for Takehiro Tomiyasu to “get out my way” as he explained Tottenham men are “more comfortable” in their system.
The Gunners have now failed to win in each of their last three Premier League games. They drew against Liverpool in the first of those three games, before losing to West Ham and then Fulham.
Mikel Arteta branded the loss to the Cottagers the “worst performance of the season” by his side.
Arsenal started with Jakub Kiwior at left-back, before he was replaced by Tomiyasu at half-time. When Oleksandr Zinchenko plays, he’s utilised like a midfielder in possession on account of his quality on the ball, and the Gunners tend to stick with that system whoever is at left-back.
That meant Tomiyasu had to play in something resembling a midfield role, and when Kai Havertz was substituted out, that left Arsenal with only two actual midfielders on the pitch.
Sky Sports pundit Redknapp felt Tomiyasu having to play that role did not work, and suggested that Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard would have been frustrated by him getting in the way.
“Tomiyasu came in the midfield today and looked like a fish up a tree, I’m watching him going: what are you doing in here? You’re just wandering around,” Redknapp said.
“That’s not his fault, he doesn’t play there, he’s a right-back predominantly and you’re asking him to go and be a good midfield player and it just looked wrong.
“If I’m Rice or if I’m Odegaard I’d be like ‘just get out my way, I don’t need you in here, you’re bringing more bodies in there, we’re losing space.'”
In fact, Redknapp feels the quality of the full-backs at north London rivals Tottenham – who are now just a point behind Arsenal – makes them stronger in that area of the pitch.
“If you look at what Spurs do where they have [Destiny] Udogie and [Pedro] Porro coming in there, they’re much more comfortable on the ball,” Redknapp added.
Indeed the Tottenham pair both get involved in attacks and chip in with goals and assists, where Tomiyasu is very much a defensive-minded full-back.
Sometimes that works, and sometimes, like against Fulham, it backfires. Arteta might have a problem at left-back, though, as Paul Merson feels Zinchenko is a liability in big games for the opposite reason.
“They need Zinchenko for the games against the bottom-half teams. Where they go and play and dominate the game. When they go and play against the big boys, then I think [Zinchenko shouldn’t play],” Merson said.
It can’t be easy for Arteta to know who’s the best option when both have their limitations.
READ MORE: Fulham 2-1 Arsenal: Gunners lose again as De Cordova-Reid, Jimenez score in comeback win
