Ian Wright has suggested that Arsenal defender Oleksandr Zinchenko doesn’t look like the same player since Granit Xhaka left the club.
Speaking on the Wrighty’s House Podcast, the Arsenal legend was reviewing Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Chelsea.
It was far from the perfect performance from the Gunners who were bailed out by late goals from Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard.
The midfielder was the best player on the pitch for Arsenal while Trossard once again made his claim to be starting as he nears full fitness.
There were some issues with Arsenal’s initial set-up that Mikel Arteta will have to address before tomorrow’s Champions League clash with Sevilla.
Arsenal’s back four looked very reminiscent of last season when the Gunners were one of the strongest defensive teams in the league.
However, Oleksandr Zinchenko had a tough game and Ian Wright believes that might have to do with the fact that Granit Xhaka was missing.
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The Swiss international was sensational last year and was sold in the summer to Bayer Leverkusen.
The German team are certainly benefitting from his arrival as they’re currently top of the Bundesliga.
The £32m left-back must wish he was still at the Emirates as his form hasn’t been the same since his departure.
Wright thinks Zinchenko is missing Xhaka
Talking about the Ukrainian, Wright said: “And again [Oleksandr] Zinchenko without Xhaka and what Xhaka done for us, it’s not the same role.
“He doesn’t seem to be able to do it without the way Xhaka was playing and giving him that license.”
On Saturday, Rice and Jorginho were tasked with playing in central midfield with Martin Odegaard starting ahead of them.
Neither player filled the Xhaka role on the left-hand side when he used to drop into left-back to allow Zinchenko to invert in midfield and Wright has noticed the problem.
Kai Havertz was signed as his replacement but wasn’t given the nod by Arteta at the weekend.
Although Chelsea played him as a centre-forward which was arguably too attacking a role for him, the German is never going to drift into the left-back position to cover for him.
Arteta needs to find a solution to get the best out of Zinchenko otherwise Takehiro Tomiyasu – who replaced him at half-time – might end up being a better option.