‘Total passenger’ – Arsenal fans already turning on ‘anonymous’ Martin Zubimendi as full Brentford stats emerge
Arsenal supporters appear to have found their scapegoat after their team dropped points against Brentford in the Premier League title race.
Despite Noni Madueke’s delicious opener at the Gtech Community Stadium on Thursday, 12 February, the Gunners were forced to walk away with a single point, thanks to Keane Lewis-Potter’s equaliser.
It could have been even worse had John Brooks sent off Gabriel Magalhaes in the closing stages, as well as Igor Thiago missing multiple gilt-edge chances before the announcement of his new contract.
Now, Arsenal are just four points ahead of Pep Guardiola‘s Man City, with 12 games left to play, and the fears are beginning to grow that their chances of silverware are slipping away.
Understandably, fans are upset about the game across London, and Zubimendi appears to be the sacrifice.
Martin Zubimendi emerges as Arsenal’s scapegoat vs Brentford
While one supporter appears to have cut the player some slack, blaming Brentford’s tactics or fatigue, due to Arteta not making enough changes, those views do not appear to be shared.
Another fan believes that his “problem” is coming up against physical teams, with multiple agreeing that the summer signing was “invisible” during the 1-1 draw at the Gtech.
Some comments are a bit harsher, labelling him “trash” or blasting him for perfecting the “act of disappearing,” and that could be the difference between lifting the league title and not.
- @9jagunner1: “Martin Zubimendi has perfected the act of disappearing from around 50 minutes in every tough game we play, yet Arteta never sees the need to bring on Norgaard, a player who captained this same Brentford side.”
- @only1chiefff: “Zubimendi is trash. I won’t let any goal or anyone gaslight me. He is literally the worst CM I’ve seen in a while. Even Merino won’t be that useless in midfield. If you rate Zubimendi, then you have zero ball knowledge.”
- @VirginianGunner: “That was a disgusting performance. Eze awful, Odegaard useless, Gyokores just go back to Coventry, Zubimendi should not play these games! So poor! Arsenal! We are bottling it already.”
Zubimendi’s stats have handed Mikel Arteta a huge headache
Supporters were stunned to see Zubimendi last the entire 90 minutes, especially with the Bees’ former captain, Christian Norgaard, waiting on the bench for more first-team minutes.
In his 90 minutes on the pitch, the Spaniard completed 95 per cent of his passes, but failed to create a single chance and made just three passes into the final third [FotMob].
He also only won 50 per cent of his ground duels, and what the Gunners really needed at the Gtech was more attacking outlets, at least before Andrews’ side put all the pressure on in the closing stages.
Next to Declan Rice, he just completely disappeared. That is not really a surprise, given the former West Ham captain’s standards, but it was certainly a disappointment as Arteta’s side dropped points on the road.