Arsenal continued to disappoint when losing to Bournemouth 1-2, marking the third defeat in their last four matches in all competitions. This result increased pressure on coach Mikel Arteta in the context of the team's decline in form.
In this match, Gabriel Martinelli was given the opportunity to start after assisting Kai Havertz to score in the victory against Sporting CP. However, the Brazilian player had a lackluster performance when he only touched the ball 7 times in the first half before being substituted by Leandro Trossard.
After the match, Jay Bothroyd frankly criticized Arteta's personnel decision: "When looking at today's starting lineup, I thought to myself, okay, Martinelli had an assist this week. That was a great assist. But he is not good enough this year.
The former Premier League striker believes that Arteta should boldly give opportunities to young talent Max Dowman. This 16-year-old player previously had 4 matches in the Premier League and contributed 1 goal: "In my opinion, Max Dowman needs to start. I don't care anymore. Arsenal needs to overcome this difficult period.
That boy, when competing, he is not afraid at all. He wants to play football. He rushes at the opponent. Maybe he will lose his temper, but he will still play his best”.
Not only stopping at personnel issues, Bothroyd also criticized Arsenal's overall performance, especially the attacking efficiency: "I think the xG is 0.19 in open plays at home. That number is not good enough for a team with a player level like Arsenal. Too many times they have fallen into a situation of only knowing how to pass the ball back and forth on the field.
With the defeat to Bournemouth, Arsenal is only 9 points ahead of Man City, while Pep Guardiola's team still has 2 matches to play. Although the Gunners still hold the right to decide for the throne, they clearly need to absolutely avoid similar slips in the rest of the season.
