Mikel Arteta made Max Dowman mistake at Liverpool as Arsenal criticism misses the mark

There has been much discourse in the wake of Arsenal’s defeat to Liverpool. Plenty of it has sadly, as it so often does, gone into hyperbole as Mikel Arteta and the Gunners face incredible scrutiny despite being no better or worse than Liverpool themselves.

Both sides created little throughout and shared moments of being the better side. In the end, the game was separated by an amazing free-kick from Dominik Szoboszlai, which we know could have just as easily been the other way around.

The irony, of course, is that Declan Rice had a free-kick from range fly over the bar in the first half. Yet, there is certainly some measured and fair criticism of Arteta from the fixture.

It pertains to both the selection and the lack of proactivity when it came to changes that needed to be made. Mikel Merino’s selection in place of the not fully fit Martin Odegaard was a choice that, in hindsight, has seen the Gunners’ boss labelled too conservative.

football.london questioned the manager’s decision to select such a team after the match. Asking the Spaniard whether, in retrospect, he saw the team as too reserved.

“Well, that's what we had,” he said. “Martin Odegaard was injured, Kai cannot play, Merino is a player that is incredible arriving from there.

“We played with three attacking players, two attacking full-backs. After the game, I think it's too easy to say that.”

A fair response, however, is that one player Arteta failed to mention was Ethan Nwaneri. The 18-year-old attacking midfielder was definitely an option and was used by Arteta when Odegaard left the field against Leeds in the last game. The Gunners went on to score four more goals.

Arteta has been accused of not trusting Nwaneri at times, and while this argument has holes, the substitution late in the game somewhat undermined any suggestion that Nwaneri was not the right choice. With minutes remaining, Arteta brought on 15-year-old Max Dowman.

If, in a moment when he needs his side to score, he has faith at Anfield to throw on a player of great talent but significant inexperience and not have the same faith to then start Nwaneri in place of Odegaard, there is a question there. Both Rice and Martin Zubimendi have the quality to hold the midfield in any game, and adding Nwaneri could have given them the edge in the first half when they did look more threatening than the home side.

Arteta’s choices both before and during the game have led to doubts from supporters about whether he has the ability to make the tough choices and take risks. While we cannot know for certain in what is a massive season with a deeper squad than normal, we will know plenty more come the end of the campaign about the Gunners’ manager.

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