Rio Ferdinand urges Mikel Arteta to give Arsenal star 'more time' after Inter defeat

Yesterday at 06:09 PM

Rio Ferdinand believes Ethan Nwaneri has made a strong case to be granted more playing time for Arsenal following their 1-0 defeat to Inter in the Champions League on Wednesday evening.

Mikel Arteta’s side slipped to a defeat in Milan as Hakan Calhanoglu’s first-half penalty sealed the win for the Serie A champions.

Arsenal dominated the second half but came up against a resilient Inter defence who restricted the number of clear-cut chances.

Nwaneri was introduced with eight minutes remaining and delivered another bright cameo in Arsenal’s attacking third.

The Gunners will now play Chelsea in the Premier League on Sunday and Ferdinand has called on Arteta to give Nwaneri ‘more responsibility’.

‘They’ll be hugely frustrated,’ Ferdinand said on TNT Sports after Arsenal’s defeat to Inter.

‘Forty-six crosses in this game, the second-most in the Champions League this season, second half especially they got into some good areas around the box but again the creativity wasn’t there, the imagination, the pictures, the guile around the box. This has been said far too often this season.

‘Ethan Nwaneri came on today and showed flashes. You go, ‘you know what, are they going to give him a little bit more time, a little bit more responsibility?’. Because he seems to have that little bit of imagination to unlock things when it’s tight.

‘But far too often it was the ball slung into the box without any real idea or you look at it and ask have they got the players in that position, in the centre-forward areas, when you throw the ball in the box, or lump it into the box at times, to capitalise?’

Ferdinand later added: ‘In those areas it’s about being clean, it’s about being clinical, and in those moments you need the players to step up. They’re getting into good areas around the box but then it’s about the underlaps, the overlaps, creating two-vs-ones, overloads in wide areas, I don’t think they’re doing that enough to create openings in the final third.’

Meanwhile, former Arsenal defender Martin Keown also believes Nwaneri should have been introduced to the game sooner by Arteta.

‘I think it improved when Nwaneri came on,’ Keown said.

‘And I thought when you see the quality he brings he should’ve been on the pitch a bit sooner.’

For more stories like this, check our sport page.

Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.