Manchester United legend and Gunners youth product Andy Cole has accused Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta of being 'disrespectful' to forward Alexandre Lacazette.
Lacazette didn't make it into the starting XI for Arsenal's Saturday night defeat to Manchester City and didn't come off the bench until the 68th minute.
Instead, Arteta decided to go with a front three of Pierre-Emrick Aubameyang, Willian and Nicolas Pepe, but he got it wrong, according to Cole.
“I think he is being disrespectful to Lacazette,” he told talkSPORT. “Willian is not a centre-forward.
“If you have got a centre-forward on the bench who is your top goalscorer, to turn around and say, ‘Look, I am going to play Willian as the centre-forward.
"You sit on the bench and watch him play centre-forward’, I think that is very disrespectful.”
Lacazette was linked with an Arsenal exit over the summer but talk of a move to Atletico Madrid was quickly put to bed by both the Frenchman himself and Arteta.
The 29-year-old declared he was happy at Arsenal and that he was not looking to leave the club.
He said in September: "I am really happy. It's only the press that says I'm not happy.
"From the beginning, I've said I am happy at Arsenal and I want to play and win titles. We won a title last month so I am happy with Arsenal."
Lacazette still has two years remaining on his contract but that could leave the Gunners with a decision to make next summer with he Frenchman at risk of leaving for free from January 2022.
He has been at the club since 2017 when he joined from Olympique Lyon for fee just shy of £50million.
Lacazette has since made 101 league appearances, scoring 40 Premier League goals.
