Noni Madueke has received a fair bit of praise from Arsenal fans for his performance against Leeds United.
Mikel Arteta surprised everyone when he chose the former Chelsea man to replace the injured Christos Tzolis on the left wing ahead of Eberechi Eze.
It wasn’t a flawless performance by any means, and you could argue that Madueke failed to track James Justin’s run when he scored the opener for Leeds. However, the Englishman was Arsenal’s most effective attacker and played his part in the comeback.
Arteta was really pleased with Madueke after the game, but he dropped a hint about what happened not too long ago.
Arsenal vs Leeds TalkingPoints
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Mikel Arteta suggests he punished Noni Madueke at Arsenal recently
Arteta is one of the most ruthless managers in the Premier League.
The Spaniard showed very early on in his managerial career that he isn’t afraid to make big decisions, even if it is against some of the biggest players in the squad – just ask Mesut Ozil and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Now, the latest player to have faced the wrath of the Arsenal manager seems to be Noni Madueke after a bunch of poor performances to start the season.
After the win against Leeds United, Arteta revealed that he made some tough decisions when Madueke was doing things that he didn’t like. Instead of sulking, the player accepted it, worked hard in training and raised the level.
Arteta said, as per Arsenal.com: “I’m really happy with him because he deserves the chance that he got, and he grabbed it with both hands.
“When I haven’t liked too much what he was doing and it was impacting the game, I made certain decisions, and he has accepted them. What he’s done is raised the level and in training he’s been the best player in the last 10 days.
“He gave me no option not to select him and not to play him today, and you could see that every time he was in and around the box, he looked a threat.”
What decisions could Mikel Arteta be talking about?
It’s never easy to guess what Arteta is talking about in situations like this.
The Arsenal boss made it clear above that he was not happy with some of the things Madueke did in the first few games of the season, so he made a few harsh decisions. We think we know what he’s talking about.
Against Brighton, where Arsenal were humiliated and lost 3-0, Arteta decided to take Bukayo Saka off in the 81st minute, and the obvious replacement was Madueke. However, it was Max Dowman who came on.
Madueke remained an unused substitute in that game, which must have been difficult. Seeing a 16-year-old get the nod over you is not a good look at all.
That must be what Arteta is talking about here, as the international break started right after that game, and Madueke got the chance to impress in training in that period.