Why Mohamed Elneny started over Sambi Lokonga in Arsenal’s defeat to Man United
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has provided an explanation for his decision to hand Mohamed Elneny a surprise start in the club’s meeting with Manchester United this evening.
Smith Rowe & Odegaard not enough
The Gunners marked their return to action a short time ago.
After bouncing back from a first defeat since August courtesy of a 2-0 downing of Newcastle at the weekend, Arteta and co. tonight made the trip to Old Trafford for a Premier League showdown with Manchester United.
Arsenal were no doubt aware ahead of kick-off that a victory would have seen them climb clear of capital rivals West Ham, and into the English top-flight’s top-4.
When all was said and done, however, the visitors, ultimately, were put to the sword by an under-manned United outfit.
Both Emile Smith Rowe and Martin Odegaard did manage to find the target, but Bruno Fernandes’ strike on the stroke of the interval, followed by a 2nd-half brace from Cristiano Ronaldo, saw the Red Devils come away with all three points in Michael Carrick’s final game in charge.
COOL. CALM. CRISTIANO.
Ronaldo smashes Man Utd into the lead from the spot! #PLonPrime #MUNARS pic.twitter.com/lJBCwFzOoS
— Amazon Prime Video Sport (@primevideosport) December 2, 2021
‘The way he plays’
Amid an overall disappointing performance on Arsenal’s part at Old Trafford, one area of the pitch highlighted as a major problem area post-match has been the middle of the park.
This comes with Thomas Partey having again majorly flattered to deceive, in a midfield pairing with Mohamed Elneny.
The latter’s inclusion from the off on Thursday raised more than a few eyebrows ahead of kick-off, though Elneny, to his credit, was actually one of the Gunners’ better performers over the course of the 90 minutes.
Nevertheless, speaking in his post-match interview, Mikel Arteta was drawn on his decision to make use of the Egyptian over Sambi Lokonga, after the Belgian excelled in a starring display versus Newcastle just days ago.
And the Arsenal boss went on to cite Elneny’s ‘experience’ under the bright lights in Manchester, as well as his recent efforts in training, as key:
Arteta on Elneny over Sambi:
I think we need a player with the experience that has played here in that arena, that was incredibly good last year when he played. The way he’s been training, the way he plays and because I believe sometimes we have to do tough things for the game.— Kaya Kaynak (@kayakaynak97) December 2, 2021
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Premier League table
| # | Team | MP | D | P |
| 1 | Chelsea FC | 14 | 27 | 33 |
| 2 | Manchester City | 14 | 21 | 32 |
| 3 | Liverpool FC | 14 | 31 | 31 |
| 4 | West Ham United | 14 | 8 | 24 |
| 5 | Arsenal FC | 13 | -2 | 23 |
| 6 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 14 | 0 | 21 |
| 7 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 14 | -2 | 19 |
| 8 | Leicester City | 14 | -3 | 19 |
| 9 | Tottenham Hotspur | 12 | -6 | 19 |
| 10 | Manchester United | 13 | -1 | 18 |
| 11 | Brentford FC | 13 | 0 | 16 |
| 12 | Crystal Palace | 14 | -1 | 16 |
| 13 | Aston Villa | 14 | -4 | 16 |
| 14 | Everton FC | 14 | -7 | 15 |
| 15 | Leeds United | 14 | -7 | 15 |
| 16 | Southampton FC | 14 | -7 | 15 |
| 17 | Watford FC | 14 | -7 | 13 |
| 18 | Burnley FC | 13 | -6 | 10 |
| 19 | Norwich City | 14 | -20 | 10 |
| 20 | Newcastle United | 14 | -14 | 7 |
| Player | Team | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| Salah, Mohamed | Liverpool FC | 13 |
| Vardy, Jamie | Leicester City | 9 |
| Jota, Diogo | Liverpool FC | 8 |
| Mane, Sadio | Liverpool FC | 7 |
| Dennis, Emmanuel | Watford FC | 6 |
| Antonio, Michail | West Ham United | 6 |
| Ronaldo, Cristiano | Manchester United | 6 |
| Raphinha | Leeds United | 6 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United | 5 |
| King, Joshua | Watford FC | 5 |
| Son, Heung Min | Tottenham Hotspur | 5 |
| Smith-Rowe, Emile | Arsenal FC | 5 |
| Silva, Bernardo | Manchester City | 5 |
| Pukki, Teemu | Norwich City | 5 |
| Wilson, Callum | Newcastle United | 5 |
| Maupay, Neal | Brighton & Hove Albion | 5 |
| Cornet, Maxwel | Burnley FC | 5 |
| Sarr, Ismaila | Watford FC | 5 |
| James, Reece | Chelsea FC | 4 |
| Mount, Mason | Chelsea FC | 4 |
| Player | Team | Red Cards | Yellow Cards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dennis, Emmanuel | Watford FC | 0 | 6 |
| Laporte, Aymeric | Manchester City | 1 | 5 |
| Pogba, Paul | Manchester United | 1 | 4 |
| Richarlison | Everton FC | 0 | 5 |
| Ritchie, Matt | Newcastle United | 0 | 5 |
| Westwood, Ashley | Burnley FC | 0 | 5 |
| Tarkowski, James | Burnley FC | 0 | 5 |
| Lascelles, Jamaal | Newcastle United | 0 | 5 |
| Neves, Ruben | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 0 | 5 |
| Ward, Joel | Crystal Palace | 0 | 5 |
| Skipp, Oliver | Tottenham Hotspur | 0 | 5 |
| Antonio, Michail | West Ham United | 0 | 3 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United | 0 | 4 |
| Gallagher, Conor | Crystal Palace | 0 | 4 |
| Wilson, Callum | Newcastle United | 0 | 4 |
| Maupay, Neal | Brighton & Hove Albion | 0 | 4 |
| McGinn, John | Aston Villa | 0 | 4 |
| Rice, Declan | West Ham United | 0 | 4 |
| Cancelo, Joao | Manchester City | 0 | 4 |
| Canos, Sergi | Brentford FC | 0 | 4 |
| Player | Team | Assists |
|---|---|---|
| Salah, Mohamed | Liverpool FC | 8 |
| Alexander-Arnold, Trent | Liverpool FC | 7 |
| Pogba, Paul | Manchester United | 7 |
| Jesus, Gabriel | Manchester City | 6 |
| Dennis, Emmanuel | Watford FC | 5 |
| Kovacic, Mateo | Chelsea FC | 5 |
| James, Reece | Chelsea FC | 4 |
| Doucoure, Abdoulaye | Everton FC | 4 |
| Bowen, Jarrod | West Ham United | 4 |
| Robertson, Andy | Liverpool FC | 4 |
| Antonio, Michail | West Ham United | 3 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United | 3 |
| Mount, Mason | Chelsea FC | 3 |
| Gallagher, Conor | Crystal Palace | 3 |
| Saint-Maximin, Allan | Newcastle United | 3 |
| Benrahma, Said | West Ham United | 3 |
| Henderson, Jordan | Liverpool FC | 3 |
| Lowton, Matthew | Burnley FC | 3 |
| Reguilon, Sergio | Tottenham Hotspur | 3 |
| Rice, Declan | West Ham United | 3 |
