Arsenal latest: Mikel Arteta's grave mistake as Wayne Rooney makes 'unfair' comment

football.london takes a look at the latest news stories from N5

Arsenal find themselves once more in the spotlight as the season reaches its business end.

Mikel Arteta's men made hard work of their FA Cup fifth-round visit to Mansfield Town on Saturday, where they scraped a 2-1 victory.

However, the Gunners have reason to be optimistic given they currently hold a seven-point advantage over Manchester City in the Premier League title race. They have also reached the Carabao Cup final, where they will take on City later this month.

FOLLOW OUR ARSENAL FB PAGE! Latest Gunners news, analysis and much more via our dedicated Facebook page

Arsenal's focus now shifts to an important Champions League last-16 first-leg clash at Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday evening, having finished top of the league phase and secured a favourable draw as a result.

Now, football.london examines two of the biggest stories concerning the north London club ahead of the fixture.

Rooney defends Gunners

Wayne Rooney has leapt to Arsenal's defence by describing recent criticism of their playing style as "unfair". The Gunners have, for large portions of this campaign, been forced to implement a more pragmatic style to get over the line in matches.

This has drawn harsh comments from pundits such as Paul Scholes, who branded the Gunners as the "most boring team" to claim a title should they lift the trophy in May. Yet, his former Manchester United team-mate Rooney takes a different view, instead applauding Arteta for learning how to win in various ways.

Speaking on The Wayne Rooney Show, he said: "I've heard a lot of people talking about Arsenal and the way they're playing, but I think they've been brilliant. Football is played in different ways. Man City have had spells when they were absolutely incredible, the same for my Man United team.

"But Arsenal have got a good mix, they've got different players who score goals, they're hard to play against, they keep clean sheets. I actually enjoy watching them play.

"The set-pieces are part of football – why would you not use it? They put bodies in the box. If teams aren't clever enough or haven't got the players to deal with it, why wouldn't Arsenal continue to do that?

"I would be doing it even more if I were Mikel Arteta. It's part of the game, and I love it. They don't have to change anything. They maybe haven't scored as many goals from open play as they would like, but they've made up for it in other ways.

"The last league title we [United] won, we weren't great as a team, but nobody is talking about that now. I don't think Arsenal have been as bad as people are saying, I really don't. I'm not saying this because I like Arsenal, I'm saying this because I think the criticism they've received is very unfair."

Nwaneri loan decision slammed

Arsenal hero Perry Groves has voiced his belief that it was a mistake to allow Ethan Nwaneri to leave on a season-long loan to Marseille in January. Following a promising debut where he found the back of the net for his new team, Nwaneri's stint in France has quickly turned into a source of frustration.

The manager who signed him, Roberto De Zerbi, parted ways with Marseille last month, resulting in the 18-year-old being reduced to substitute appearances under the new boss. Nwaneri's motivation for leaving Arsenal initially was to earn more crucial playing time to further his development, leading former Gunners winger Groves to call his exit a major error.

Groves said: "The one thing I've always said is I couldn't believe they let Nwaneri go. I don't care, you can't have too many bodies, even if you're not giving them game time, and those players are not getting into a squad of 20, who cares?"

Inside Gooners presenter Nick Bright suggested: "There's probably a little bit of player management there, in terms of just keeping him happy." However, Groves didn’t agree with that viewpoint, responding: "Who cares?"

Bright added: "I think the problem was Roberto De Zerbi left [Marseille]. I think there were certain assurances, because Arteta wanted him to play under De Zerbi, and then De Zerbi's gone." Groves replied: "But he can be unhappy at the end of the season, do you know what I mean? I don't care if he's happy or unhappy."