“That was a little bit of a mistake” – Ray Parlour slams Mikel Arteta decision during Arsenal’s defeat to Brighton

Former Arsenal midfielder Ray Parlour has slammed manager Mikel Arteta for playing Granit Xhaka as a left-back against Brighton & Hove Albion. The Switzerland international was switched from his natural midfield position in the Premier League fixture.

The Gunners lost the game 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium. This was their second consecutive defeat after they were hammered 3-0 by Crystal Palace in an away game on April 5.

They are now fifth, three points behind fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League table with a game in hand.

Arteta decided to field Granit Xhaka in the defensive setup after Kieran Tierney was ruled out of the season due to a knee injury. The makeshift role did not work for the Spanish manager and the Gunners were punished in both the halves.

Leandro Trossard and Enock Mwepu scored for Brighton, while Martin Odegaard scored the consolation goal for the Gunners.

Speaking to talkSPORT, club legend Parlour said that he would have kept Xhaka in the midfield instead of testing him in the backline.

He said:

''I think Xhaka, he’s not a left-back, we know that. I would’ve left him in central midfield, he’s always on the ball and you know you’re going to have a lot of possession against Brighton. So I think that was a little bit of a mistake.''

He added:

''But he’s made that decision that they’re not going to have a lot of play down the right-hand side, which in the end, the first goal came from that area. Partey, they did miss him. He had a really poor game against Crystal Palace but before that, he was controlling the midfield – the tempo, possession of the ball. Tierney, he’s out for the season.''

Parlour believes that Arteta's side are still in the race to grab fourth position despite Tottenham Hotspur extending their lead. Antonio Conte's side thrashed Aston Villa 4-0 to lead the Gunners by three points in the fourth spot.

He added:

''So it’s been a bad week for Arsenal, but they’ve still got a chance [to finish in the top four].''

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Arsenal show interest in signing Wolves midfielder Ruben Neves: Reports

As per Sky Sports, the Gunners are interested in signing Ruben Neves from Wolverhampton Wolves to bolster their midfield. The Portuguese was linked with a move to Old Trafford but Arsenal have now shown interest in getting his services as well.

However, they will have to face a stiff challenge from Barcelona, who have also enquired about Neves.