Ferdinand reveals Arteta blunder that DOOMED Arsenal's title chances

Tom Weber

Updated: 18 Feb 2025 10:16 GMT
3 min read

Rio Ferdinand believes that Mikel Arteta should have trusted Ethan Nwaneri earlier in the season when Martin Odegaard was sidelined.

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After another summer of bringing in high-profile recruits, the Gunners felt that this could finally be their season after running Man City close in the previous two campaigns.

However, things ultimately turned out quite differently. While the Cityzens have fallen by the wayside, it has been Liverpool who have stormed away at the top of the Premier League, leaving Arsenal in the dust.

The Reds are currently seven points clear of Mikel Arteta's men and it would take an almighty collapse for them to slip up now and miss out on their second Premier League title since the competition's inception in 1992.

Arsenal's losses against Bournemouth and Newcastle, as well as disappointing draws with Fulham, Everton and Brighton (twice), have left them scrambling to keep up with Liverpool.

© IMAGO - Martin Odegaard and Mikel Arteta

Arteta should have trusted Nwaneri sooner

Man Utd legend Rio Ferdinand believes that Arsenal would be in a better position now had it not been for a selection blunder by Arteta earlier in the season.

The former centre-back is of the opinion that the Spanish tactician should have trusted wonderkid Ethan Nwaneri more during the three-month absence of captain Martin Odegaard, who was dealing with an ankle injury between September and November.

Nwaneri has been hailed for his impact in the past few days. The 17-year-old has already scored seven goals this season and was recently compared to Lionel Messi by Joe Cole and Cesc Fabregas by Arsene Wenger.

“Arsenal could be nearer to winning the league and closer to Liverpool if your manager played Nwaneri when Odegaard was injured," Ferdinand said on his YouTube channel.

“He is cooking defenders, he is cooking teams. I think if he came in you would have got more points. It’s easy to say in hindsight but I was saying it at the time.

"Chuck him in and just see, what’s the worst that can happen? Because you were running up dead alleys at the time and not getting results. Put him in! Odegaard was gone.”