‘I don’t get that’: Pundit baffled by what he’s heard being said about Mikel Arteta in last few days

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Steve Nicol has defended Mikel Arteta’s decision to bring Jakub Kiwior on against Liverpool on Sunday amid backlash against that decision.

Speaking on the Highbury Squad YouTube channel, Nicol came out to bat for the Arsenal manager after he came under scrutiny for making that sub.

Indeed, many pundits and fans have been critiquing Arteta for bringing Kiwior into such a high-pressure environment as he’s barely played since his arrival in January.

However, Nicol has said that Arteta made the right call bringing on an extra defender, stating that he can’t understand the criticism that is being thrown at Arteta over the past few days.

Nicol baffled

The pundit gave his verdict on this situation.

“The first substitution, what’s his name? Kiwior? He (Arteta) was under incredible pressure and he put on another defender, how can that be seen as a mistake when you’re ahead? I don’t get that? That doesn’t make sense to me? What are you going to do put another forward on? Who else would you play?” Nicol said.

Best form of defence

Bringing on another defender to protect a lead makes a lot of sense on paper, but sometimes, the best form of defence is attack.

The Gunners were under the cosh when Kiwior came on, but rather than playing with their backs against the walls, Arsenal needed to wrestle back some element of control in this game.

In our view, bringing Jorginho on in this situation would’ve been the right play. He would’ve calmed the game down and took control of the midfield battle, while Kiwior’s addition forced Arsenal to invite pressure and eventually, they cracked.

Nicol may be baffled by this criticism, but we can understand where these detractors are coming from.