Mikel Arteta told Arsenal summer signing needs ‘support’ in ‘difficult moment’ | Football

Martin Keown says Martin Zubimendi is going through a ‘difficult moment’ in his debut season with Arsenal and likely ‘needs’ support from team-mates and fans.

Zubimendi completed £56million move from Real Sociedad to Arsenal in the summer transfer window, with weighty expectations placed on the midfielder, who had also been linked with Liverpool and Real Madrid.

The 27-year-old quickly settled into life in the Premier League and was held up as one of the signings of the season during a strong start to his Gunners career.

However, Zubimendi has struggled to have the same impact as the campaign has worn on and the Spain international has failed to register a goal or an assist in his last nine appearances in the Premier League.

The Euro 2024 winner remains an ever-present in Mikel Arteta’s side, though, starting all but one of Arsenal’s 34 games in the top flight, with only four matches remaining of the club’s title charge.

After Arsenal ground out a nervy 1-0 win over Newcastle to reclaim top spot at the weekend, Manchester United legend Gary Neville said he had been left disappointed by Zubimendi’s recent form.

‘I thought at the start of the season that Zubimendi was a great signing,’ Neville said on his Sky Sports podcast.

‘He’s been a good player for Arsenal but right now I was expecting that this would be where Zubimendi would be the player. Who’s going to be the difference player?

‘I thought [Viktor] Gyokeres would get the goals for them in the big moments and get to 2-0. His lack of quality at the end was poor on that counter-attack. He’s got to do better than that.

‘But I thought… you think of what [Andrea] Pirlo is, or [Paul] Scholes or Rodri, Bernardo Silva – the player who can dictate play in a game like this, get Arsenal on the ball, organise and get them with authority and he [Zubimendi] is not demonstrating that.

‘He’s struggling in the games and he has been for a few weeks now. [Martin] Odegaard does it better.

‘Odegaard went deeper, but the problem is when Odegaard goes deeper, [Declan] Rice then goes deeper and Zubimendi is already deep. Then you’ve got three players, or certainly two in deep areas.

‘You can’t have that. You want them to be rotating with each other, and you want one back there to link play with the defence and the full-backs.

‘It felt to me today that Zubimendi, Rice and Odegaard got outplayed by that Newcastle midfield.’

Giving his thoughts on talkSPORT two days on from Arsenal’s edgy victory at the Emirates, Keown compared Zubimendi’s form with the eye-catching performances that Eberechi Eze had been producing.

‘The situation Arsenal are in is normal. It’s never easy to be a team that doesn’t win it after successive years. It’s 22 years for Arsenal, 26 years for Manchester United, 44 years for Manchester City,’ the ex-Arsenal and England defender said.

‘We can still hear “[Sergio] Aguero!”, in the commentary because of what it meant on the day that they tripped up against QPR.

‘These nerves are there, it’s natural. I just thought, at the weekend, Eberechi Eze, how he handled those nerves, I think he’s an example to everyone in the team, how he’s loving the situation.

‘I was stunned by the naivety of Arsenal, not recognising, “Okay, we’re all marking inside the box but that’s not the player we need to pick up”, and there were two early corners that was a sign to that.

‘His finish was magnificent. You think about his progression in the game, he’s 27 years of age, Arsenal didn’t want him, rejected him… his route to this level, he’s enjoying the moment and embracing it. That has to be the attitude.

Keown continued: ‘I think I’d contrast that with Zubimendi. He’s played a lot of games, it’s a difficult moment for him, but these are the players you support.

‘The result does the trick, it gives you that tonic, it makes you think you can keep going.

\It’s been like climbing Mount Everest here. We have four games to go where Arsenal are top of the Premier League and in the semi-finals of the Champions League, and there’s a crisis everywhere, every week. Forget all the noise and start to turn up, start to play.

‘It was really nice to see [Bukayo] Saka back out on the pitch again because all the connections were back.

Keown expects there to be many more twists and turns in this year’s compelling title race between Arsenal and Manchester City, who sit three points adrift but have a game in hand over the Gunners.

‘I don’t think they will and I don’t think we should be underestimating some of these games,’ Keown, who won three Premier League titles with Arsenal, went on.

‘We don’t even know when the games for Manchester City will be played because the FA Cup final comes a week before the end of the season and that’s a determining factor.’

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