Keown calls on Arsenal fans to give more ‘support’ to star going through ‘difficult moment’ | OneFootball

Martin Keown thinks Martin Zubimendi needs more “support” in order to get back to his best form for Arsenal ahead of the Premier League title run-in.

The Gunners beat Newcastle United 1-0 over the weekend to go back to the top of the Premier League with Arsenal now three points clear of Manchester City, who were engaged in FA Cup action.

Arsenal play again in the Premier League before Man City when they face Fulham on Saturday and Mikel Arteta’s side will be looking to extend their advantage to six points to pile the pressure on Pep Guardiola’s men.

Before their win over Newcastle, Arsenal lost two in a row in the Premier League against Bournemouth and Man City and there have been concerns over their performances.

Zubimendi is one player who has been singled out as letting his levels drop in recent weeks with Gary Neville insisting the Spain international is “not demonstrating” enough authority.

Neville said on his Sky Sports podcast: “I thought at the start of the season that Zubimendi was a great signing.

“He’s been a good player for Arsenal but right now I was expecting that this would be where Zubimendi would be the player. Who’s going to be the difference player?

“I thought [Viktor] Gyokeres would get the goals for them in the big moments and get to 2-0. His lack of quality at the end was poor on that counter-attack. He’s got to do better than that.

“But I thought… you think of what [Andrea] Pirlo is, or [Paul] Scholes or Rodri, Bernardo Silva – the player who can dictate play in a game like this, get Arsenal on the ball, organise and get them with authority and he [Zubimendi] is not demonstrating that.

“He’s struggling in the games and he has been for a few weeks now. [Martin] Odegaard does it better.

“Odegaard went deeper, but the problem is when Odegaard goes deeper, [Declan] Rice then goes deeper and Zubimendi is already deep. Then you’ve got three players, or certainly two in deep areas.

“You can’t have that. You want them to be rotating with each other, and you want one back there to link play with the defence and the full-backs.

“It felt to me today that Zubimendi, Rice and Odegaard got outplayed by that Newcastle midfield.”

Keown: These are the players you support

Speaking about Zubimendi and Arsenal in general, Gunners legend Keown had his say on talkSPORT: “The situation Arsenal are in is normal. It’s never easy to be a team that doesn’t win it after successive years. It’s 22 years for Arsenal, 26 years for Manchester United, 44 years for Manchester City.

“We can still hear ‘[Sergio] Aguero!’, in the commentary because of what it meant on the day that they tripped up against QPR.

“These nerves are there, it’s natural. I just thought, at the weekend, Eberechi Eze, how he handled those nerves, I think he’s an example to everyone in the team, how he’s loving the situation.

“I was stunned by the naivety of Arsenal, not recognising, ‘Okay, we’re all marking inside the box but that’s not the player we need to pick up’, and there were two early corners that was a sign to that.

“His finish was magnificent. You think about his progression in the game, he’s 27 years of age, Arsenal didn’t want him, rejected him… his route to this level, he’s enjoying the moment and embracing it. That has to be the attitude.”

Keown continued: “I think I’d contrast that with Zubimendi. He’s played a lot of games, it’s a difficult moment for him, but these are the players you support.

“The result does the trick, it gives you that tonic, it makes you think you can keep going.

“It’s been like climbing Mount Everest here. We have four games to go where Arsenal are top of the Premier League and in the semi-finals of the Champions League, and there’s a crisis everywhere, every week. Forget all the noise and start to turn up, start to play.

“It was really nice to see [Bukayo] Saka back out on the pitch again because all the connections were back.”

On the title race, Keown added: “I don’t think they will and I don’t think we should be underestimating some of these games.

“We don’t even know when the games for Manchester City will be played because the FA Cup final comes a week before the end of the season and that’s a determining factor.”