Ian Wright has hit out at Unai Emery’s decision to drop Dani Ceballos to the bench following Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat at the hands of Sheffield United.
Ceballos, who joined on loan from Real Madrid in the summer, started Arsenal’s previous two matches against Standard Liege – in which he scored – and Bournemouth, but had to settle for a place among the substitutes on Monday night.
Mesut Ozil, meanwhile, was left out altogether as Emery put his faith in academy products Bukayo Saka and Joe Willock at Bramall Lane.
Lys Mousset’s scrappy 30th-minute strike was enough to seal three points for the Blades as Arsenal fluffed their opportunity to move up to third in the Premier League table.
The Gunners were left to rue their missed chances, with Nicolas Pepe firing wide from six yards and Saka booked for diving inside the penalty area. However, Wright believes Emery made a glaring mistake with his team selection.
‘I think he’s got to come here and Ceballos has to play. He’s played the youngsters and I’m pleased to see them in there, with Saka,’ the ex-Arsenal striker told Premier League Productions.
‘But Saka, for an 18-year-old, if you’re leaving Ozil totally out of the squad, then we have to see more from him [Saka], we have to see more from Joe.
‘Unfortunately, it was a game where it passed them both by and then it comes down to the manager and his choices.
‘He’s made the change at half-time, with Ceballos, so you’re thinking to yourself: “Why didn’t you start him in the first place?”
‘Start him. He’s someone that gets on the ball when they want to try and play out, Guendouzi’s got a lot of energy and get the boys playing.
‘[Pierre-Emerick] Aubameyang didn’t have anything to play off today because there wasn’t any creativity.’
Ceballos did have an impact after replacing Willock at half-time, but the Spaniard wasn’t able to change the scoreline as Arsenal left Bramall Lane empty-handed.
Asked whether Ceballos made a difference, Wright replied: ‘Yeah, because he wants to try and get on the ball and he doesn’t mind getting on the ball anywhere to try and do his stuff.
‘It’s a disappointing one simply because Arsenal could have gone third.
‘It’s the kind of game where they can lay down a marker and they don’t and it’s unfortunate.’
MORE: Unai Emery on why Freddie Ljungberg was shown yellow card during Arsenal defeat
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