"He should be more dominant" - Ian Wright criticizes Arsenal star for his role in Bobby de Cordova Reid's winner for Fulham
Arsenal legend Ian Wright has slammed defender Gabriel for his failure to attack the ball before Bobby De Cordova-Reid's winner for Fulham against Arsenal in a recent Premier League game. He highlighted that the Brazilian needed to stop waiting for the ball inside the six-yard box.
Speaking on the Premier League productions, Wright was furious after Arsenal's 2-1 loss to Fulham. He wanted Gabriel to be more dominant in the box and said:
"You know what I am thinking, because Gabriel Magalhaes is such a big guy. De Cordova-Reid is a smaller guy. I thought he should be more dominant in the situation. Once the ball comes over, it’s over his head, he has to be moving to attack it. Go towards to attack the ball instead of waiting. You look at the space he is in, he doesn’t move out of that space the whole time and that can’t be right. You have got to defend. You have got to be on the move, ready to head something and react to it. Those margins of getting something wrong have cost them.”
The loss left Arteta's side fourth in the league table - level on points with Manchester City and two behind leaders Liverpool. However, the two sides have a game in hand and can pull away from the Gunners.
Arsenal's plan B is seeing them struggle, claims Ian Wright
Ian Wright believes Arsenal are not doing well this season as they are unable to control matches. He believes that Mikel Arteta's plan B is not working well and that has seen them drop points consistently.
He said on the Premier League productions:
"It looks like Arsenal are struggling with a Plan B. They dropped off rather than controlled the game, and that bemused me. The players need to look at themselves, I feel like people have worked them out a bit and know they want to go to our wings. It doesn't look like they can move teams out of possession because they are playing in such a passive manner. The manager needs to take that on board because the players aren't expressing themselves. It looks like they're in a bit of a quandary."
The Gunners finished 2023 with back-to-back losses and have slipped down in the table. They are now just a point ahead of Tottenham Hotspur and next face Liverpool in the FA Cup 3rd round.