Ian Wright has criticised Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta for intervening in Tuesday’s bust-up between Ben White and Oleksandr Zinchenko.
The Gunners survived a late scare and secured a 2-1 victory against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground but the post-match focus centred on the row between two Arsenal defenders.
White was understood to be annoyed by the way in which Zinchenko played Gonzalo Montiel onside in the lead-up to Taiwo Awoniyi’s goal which sparked a frantic finale.
Zinchenko’s defending has been in the spotlight recently and he made an identical error in the recent 1-1 draw against Liverpool which played a part in Mohamed Salah’s equaliser.
Arteta made a beeline for the Ukraine international after the full-time whistle in an attempt to diffuse the situation but Wright believes he should have let players resolve the matter for themselves.
The Arsenal legend told The Overlap: ‘I just saw it as it happened, I was like, ‘What’s happening with them two?’, but he went over and he pointed, he said something, and Zinchenko wasn’t happy with it.
‘Zinchenko is a very emotional guy. What I like about Ben White is, he’s the player who’s got that look – he will tell you, and he probably told him, then Mikel [Arteta] came on.
‘I would have preferred you let them play it out [on the pitch] – it’s not like they were going to have a fight. You go in the dressing room and deal with it there but to see the manager coming out and talking to him right there and then, I’m thinking, ‘[deal with it in the dressing room]’.
Despite victory over Forest, Arsenal remain five points adrift of leaders Liverpool ahead of Sunday’s summit meeting after the Reds romped to 4-1 win against Chelsea last night.
‘We [Arsenal] can’t lose [against Liverpool], that’s the main thing – we mustn’t lose at home,’ added Wright.
‘I’d rather us not get beaten. Get the three points from Forest, a team that we struggled to beat the last three games and then Liverpool, you go for it and at some stage you say, ‘Do you know what, we’ll take a point here off of them’.
‘I like where we are now. Against Palace – I didn’t expect Palace to be as poor as they were – but at the same time, Arsenal really put them away ruthlessly.’
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