Mikel Arteta urged to try Arsenal star in new position for 2nd leg vs PSG | OneFootball

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has been advised to drop Gabriel Martinelli and use Ethan Nwaneri wide on the left for the second leg of the Paris Saint-Germain game.

The Gunners lost 1-0 at home to PSG last night in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final tie, with Ousmane Dembele stunning the Emirates Stadium with an early goal.

It wasn’t the best performance from Arsenal, but this tie isn’t over yet, and they’ll surely be looking to produce a big response at the Parc des Princes in a week’s time.

Arteta may have to change things around a bit, though, and there might be a case for dropping Martinelli from the starting line up after an unconvincing display.

Arsenal should use Ethan Nwaneri from the start against PSG next week, says pundit

Discussing what Arsenal could do differently, former West Ham player Nigel Reo-Coker called for Nwaneri to start in Paris next week.

Ethan Nwaneri in Arsenal training (Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images)

Speaking on CBS Sports, as quoted by the Metro, the pundit made the case for Nwaneri coming in on that left-hand side, even if it’s not a role he’s played before.

“You know what I would do? I would start Nwaneri. Ethan, the young lad at Arsenal, because these are the games young players can thrive in,” Reo-Coker said.

“I hate when people say “oh they’re too young” about players, if you’re good enough, you’re old enough. I would let Ethan go out there and do his thing.

“It’s a tough decision but I would take Martinelli out for Nwaneri, I really would.”

He added: “People will say Nwaneri’s not played in that position much but in the modern game players all interchange in different positions. I would find a way to get him in that team.”

Arsenal missed some big chances against PSG

Arsenal might do well to change Martinelli for Nwaneri, but the truth is that they lacked a clinical finisher last night.

That’s perhaps not too surprising when both of their main strikers, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus, are both out injured.

Even before those injuries, there were questions about whether or not Arsenal had enough of a clinical goal-scorer in their side.

Both Martinelli and Leandro Trossard missed big chances against PSG, and it’s not clear that simply replacing one of them with Nwaneri will be enough to significantly change things next week.