Former Arsenal striker Theo Walcott has questioned whether Mikel Arteta trusts certain players after his reluctance to make substitutions in Wednesday night's loss at FC Porto.
The Gunners headed into the first leg of their Champions League round-of-16 tie as red-hot favourites to progress but were far from their fluent best in Portugal. And they now have it all to do if they are to qualify for the competition's quarter-finals after a last-gasp goal from Galeno gave Porto a one-goal cushion ahead of next month's return leg.
Despite a subpar performance, Arteta opted against making changes and only introduced Jorginho from the bench, with the Italian playmaker getting the nod to replace Leandro Trossard in the 76th minute in a bid to shut up shop.
And Walcott, who was analysing the game for BBC Radio 5 Live, has suggested that the lack of changes may imply that the Spaniard doesn't fully trust some of his squad players.
He said: "I remember being in this certain position before and being subbed as a forward player. Martinelli, for instance, could be tired, he’s worked really hard, tracking his full-back quite a lot tonight. Of course, yes, lazy pass, loses the ball [for Porto’s goal], but then I’ve just got to question this squad depth of Arsenal at the start of the game – does Mikel trust the players?
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"He only brought on one sub tonight and I just feel it could’ve been a game where we completely just shut up shop, maybe just slow it down even slower than it was and take off certain players, obviously [Bukayo] Saka wasn’t as effective tonight.
"It’ll be completely different at the Emirates, I’m sure, but as a coach would you feel you’d want to make more subs knowing that the game is stagnating."
He continued: "It’s a tricky one because with Arsenal obviously Mikel always tends to play the same team, you always know who will be playing, same sort of substitutes come on, but yes, maybe the lack of experience in the Champions League with certain players [played a part].
Join the debate! What did you make of Arsenal's performance v Porto? Let us know here.
Former Arsenal striker Theo Walcott has questioned whether or not Arteta trusts certain players"But you’ve got the likes of [Mohamed] Elneny who has been around the club and has been the longest-serving player for a long time now, he’s smart in the game, knows how to slow it down. Jorginho, of course, comes on and is experienced enough.
"It’s all happened by [Gabriel] Martinelli being slightly tired, it is what is is, but again I have to question the position of the keeper as well. I think he’s done brilliantly at times but I think you can question certain positions."
Arsenal host Porto in the return leg next month and Walcott is adamant that Arteta's men will turn the tie around to qualify. He added: "These games aren’t won over one leg. I’ve been in this situation before where you’ve gone to a place like this and not got the result you’ve wanted or you’ve managed to nick an away goal, obviously that doesn’t factor in this stage.
"But I’m still confident Arsenal, with the home support particularly, the way the Emirates is at this moment in time, that they will be able to go through quite comfortably, to be honest, I really do, I don’t think it’ll be as tight as this tonight. I think it’ll be more open."
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