Arsenal legend Ian Wright feels that Mikel Arteta needed Kieran Tierney and Gabriel Martinelli to beat Crystal Palace last night.
The Gunners were held to a goalless draw by Palace at the Emirates Stadium yesterday, missing the chance to move into the top half of the Premier League table in the process.
Arteta was without both Martinelli and Tierney last night through injury and in only the second Premier League game that Tierney has missed this season, former Gunners striker Wright felt that the absences of both him and Martinelli were costly.
Wright praised Tierney for his energy, whilst Martinelli’s speed is also something that Arsenal’s second highest scorer of all-time is impressed by.
"With Tierney coming back, with Gabriel Martinelli, that little bit of pace, thrust might get them going again,” Wright told Premier League Productions.
"One player does make such a difference and it is a bit of a worry, you take him out of the team and that side doesn't function.
"You're talking about the way Kieran Tierney gets up and down that left hand side, it's the full 90 minutes, he never stops.
"It has to come from somewhere else. Set-pieces when you consider Arsenal have a set-piece coach, the balls going in from Saka were very good and I don't think they were being attacked very well.
"We've got a set-piece coach for a reason.
"He's got a leader quality in the way he plays, the way he plays drags the rest of you through."
