Arsenal vs Leeds: 4 talking points as Aubameyang scores hat-trick

Mikel Arteta Makes Peculiar Substitutions

Must we be negative? Ideally not, even though the final 35 minutes of Sunday’s match were an entirely different game to the opening 55, but the substitutions that Arteta is making can’t go unnoticed.

Taking Smith Rowe off was a decision all will agree with. The youngster has played a substantial amount of minutes this season since coming into the team and needs all the rest he can get before Benfica. In that instance, don’t bring Willian on, then.

This experiment has to be shelved. Persisting with him makes no sense: this team doesn’t need a fit and firing Willian. His impact from the bench is minimal at best, the play slows down and he loses the ball too often, so why bother? Clearly something isn’t right with Gabriel Martinelli but the decision to choose one Brazilian over the other has no merits.

It’s certain that Pepe was not dropped but rested ahead of midweek, but even him coming on for to get some minutes in his legs would have made more sense.

You also have to wonder why Saka played the full 90 minutes. Odegaard is obviously lacking full match fitness, sure, but he isn’t expected to start in Rome so why not haul Saka off with 30 minutes to go considering he definately will start at Stadio Olimpico?

This isn’t the first time Arteta’s substitutions have been brought into question as similar concerns were raised at Villa Park when he made Nicolas Pepe switch wings and brought Willian on over Martinelli once more.

When Arsenal are winning it’s not the biggest concern. Lose, however, and the peculiar substitutions Arteta is making will be thrust further into the limelight.