Mikel Arteta told Arsenal star is ‘not good enough’ after Bournemouth defeat | Football

Former Premier League forward Jan Age Fjortoft criticised two Arsenal players after the Gunners suffered a disappointing Premier League defeat to Bournemouth.

Mikel Arteta’s side had the chance to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League to 12 points as they welcomed Bournemouth to the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

The Gunners are chasing a first Premier League title since 2004 and beating Bournemouth would have put even more pressure on Manchester City ahead of their trip to Chelsea on Sunday.

But Arsenal fell to a 2-1 defeat to Bournemouth, meaning they have now lost three of their last four games and could see their lead in the title race cut to six points come the end of the weekend.

Man City will have another game in hand to potentially reduce the gap to three, while they can pull even closer to Arsenal when the two title rivals meet at the Etihad Stadium next weekend.

Viktor Gyokeres scored Arsenal’s goal against Bournemouth but also missed a number of chances and Norwegian football legend Fjortoft has questioned if the £64m striker’s form is ‘good enough’ to fire the Gunners to the title.

Gyokeres has been widely mocked in the aftermath of the Bournemouth setback after he said Arsenal were not helped by the ‘dry pitch’ at the Emirates Stadium.

‘I guess the best strikers in the world will score on dry pitches, wet pitches, snow, rain, wind, everything,’ Fjortoft said on ESPN.

‘I don’t want to re-open that debate over Arsenal lacking a top, top striker because Gyokeres just sent Sweden to the World Cup but he did miss some chances today.

‘If you see last season with [Erling] Haaland and [Mohamed] Salah, have there been any champions without that player who can save them on a bad day?

‘Gyokeres scored today and his form is okay but it seems it’s not good enough to shoot you to a championship.’

Fjortoft also criticised Declan Rice’s performance against Bournemouth and said Arsenal are ‘desperately missing’ injured captain Martin Odegaard.

‘I want to mention another name: Declan Rice,’ Fjortoft added. ‘I see he gets the captain’s armband and I talk to English pundits and apparently he’s the biggest leader since Lord Nelson.

‘He was the captain today but I didn’t see that, I didn’t see him doing that. I’m not saying this because he’s Norwegian but I think they miss an in-form Martin Odegaard.

‘Unfortunately he’s having some problems with injuries this season but they’re desperate to get him back because at the moment Declan Rice, the big hope for English football, isn’t producing either.’

Meanwhile, Arteta described Arsenal’s third defeat in four games as a ‘big punch in the face’.

‘It’s a big punch in the face and it’s about how we react now,’ Arteta said. ‘They are a team who haven’t lost for 11 games for a reason, they did a lot right.

‘We were far from efficient. The first chance they had to attack the box, it’s a deflection, a bad defending action and it’s a goal. That’s something we have to recover from.

‘The second half you expect a different game. We did a lot of strange things today. We have been very consistent. This can happen, this is football.’

Asked if his players were ‘hurting’ after losing to Bournemouth, Arteta added: ‘A lot. It has to hurt. They have to take it on the chin. You stand up and go for the fight or you’re out.

‘It’s a big week. A lot at stake. We’re still in a good position in both competitions.’

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