Wright insists Arteta ‘needed’ to play Arsenal ‘footballer’ vs Man City as alternative did ‘nothing’ | OneFootball

Ian Wright insists Mikel Arteta should have played an out-of-favour “footballer” to “link” the midfield in the Carabao Cup final vs Manchester City.

A Nico O’Reilly brace condemned Arsenal to defeat at Wembley last Sunday as another high-profile cup final blunder from stand-in goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga got the ball rolling for City, who fully deserved their victory as the Gunners shrank into their shell in the second half.

Arteta’s side – who sit nine points clear at the top of the Premier League with seven games to go – struggled to find a way out of their own half as City boxed them in and dominated both possession and chances.

While analysing his former team’s struggles on Stick To Football, Wright claimed the Gunners would have benefited from having Myles Lewis-Skelly at left-back.

The academy graduate broke into the first team in impressive fashion last season but has started just one Premier League game this term with Arteta preferring either Piero Hincapie or Riccardo Calafiori on the left of the Arsenal defence.

Wright said: “I’ve mentioned like, I’ve mentioned Myles Lewis-Skelly when he played against Real Madrid last time, had an unbelievable game.

“Then he’s kind of been dropped back out of it, and I’m thinking in that game, yesterday, on Sunday, a left-back who can invert what we need is somebody comfortable on the ball.

“That’s the game he should be playing in, because then he’s somebody who can get on the ball, and at least we can link.”

Wright added: “There’s no way, Myles Lewis-Skelly, the way he started his career, he hasn’t got the capability to go on and do, I’m not saying he’s gonna do exactly what O’Reilly’s done, but the confidence it gives him in playing is gonna be a lot probably more confident than he is right now.

“He can’t get into the team at the moment, whether it’s Hincapie or if it’s behind Calafiori, this guy is a footballer.

“We needed a footballer on Sunday, and those are the things that I’m sitting there watching us do, watching us do nothing.

“I’m thinking to myself, if the Arsenal fans saw someone like him come on and do a couple of things, everybody, it gets us going, it gets people going again. That’s a disappointment for me.”