Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has dominated the headlines over the last few days.
The Spaniard signed a new contract at the club earlier this week, extending his stay at the Emirates Stadium until the summer of 2030. It was a well-deserved extension, and everybody around the club is delighted.
Arteta has been getting a lot of praise all week, but for a completely unrelated matter, the Arsenal boss has come under criticism from his home country.
Mikel Arteta slammed for his management of Mikel Merino and Martin Zubimendi
Mikel Merino and Martin Zubimendi are both exceptional footballers.
The two Spaniards are World Cup winners, and they have the ability to start for most clubs in the world. They are genuinely that good.
However, at Arsenal, neither Merino nor Zubimendi is a regular starter. In fact, an argument can be made that they aren’t even second choice when everyone is fit and firing.
That seems to have upset Tomas Roncero, who has had a go at Mikel Arteta for keeping the two Spain internationals on the bench more often than not. The Spanish journalist is so upset that he has urged Arsenal to send them on loan to Real Madrid in January.
He said, as per Defensa Central: “I know you’ve won the Premier League and were runners-up in the UEFA Champions League, but how on earth can you have Martin Zubimendi and Mikel Merino on the bench?”
“I mean, send them to me, to Real Madrid. Let me have them, loan them to me. If you’re not going to play them, loan them to Madrid!
“Goodness me, Arteta. How can these lads not be starting if they’re both footballing machines?”
Yet more proof that Arsenal’s squad depth is elite
Arsenal’s squad depth has received a lot of praise in recent months, and Roncero’s rant above is yet more proof of how strong it really is.
Merino and Zubimendi can easily start every game and do a job, but they are behind Declan Rice, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Bruno Guimaraes in the pecking order.
That’s five elite midfielders in a single team, which is outrageous. Most teams in the Premier League and Europe would snap your hands off for just one or two of them.
Arteta has them all for his Arsenal side alone, and that is another reason why the Gunners are the favourites to win all the trophies this season.