"I would have liked to have a little more intricacy" - Ian Wright believes Mikel Arteta should have started 27-year-old Arsenal star against Bayern
Arsenal legend Ian Wright has suggested that Mikel Arteta made a mistake by not starting Gabriel Jesus in the Gunners' 2-2 draw against Bayern Munich in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League quarter-final. He believes the Brazilian would have offered more on the ball than Kai Havertz.
Speaking on his Wrighty's House podcast, Wright opined that Arsenal lacked close control around the Bayern Munich box, and that cost them the win. He added that Havertz's physical presence was not needed and thus Jesus should have started the game. He said:
"Can I just say, just quickly, I know I'm jumping for Jward a bit, but I would like to have seen maybe Jesus start that game for some reason. He just gave us a little bit of something different when he got on the ball and when the ball was on the ground, rather than Kai's physical presence trying to link play and all that. I thought in the first-half, I would have liked to have a little more intricacy in and around their box. That's what I would've liked to have seen."
Arsenal took the lead in the game via Bukayo Saka. But Serge Gnabry and Harry Kane scored for Bayern to give them the lead. Leandro Trossard then equalized for the home side at the Emirates.
Mikel Arteta pleased with Arsenal's performance against Bayern Munich
Mikel Arteta was talking to the media after the match when he was quizzed about his players' positive outlook on the result.
He said that his side were solid but also took the risk when needed. He said (via Arsenal's official website):
"Yeah, you have to feel it on the pitch, and the game state tells you and gives you a lot of information is the game there for the taking, raise the level of risk and commit more players forward or do something out of the game, when it's in a state, be careful and I think the game after scoring, giving three, four or five straight balls away and allow certain transition it wasn't there to win it. It was closer to lose it if we make a few mistakes."
The second leg of the last-eight tie is scheduled for Wednesday, April 18.