Gary Lineker claims Arsenal improved without ‘cautious’ £51million star

Gary Lineker suggested Arsenal’s dramatic improvement against Fulham coincided with Mikel Arteta’s decision to rest Martin Zubimendi.

The summer signing from Real Sociedad has been a near ever-present at the heart of the Gunners’ engine room and formed an effective partnership alongside Declan Rice.

Zubimendi’s near instant adaptation has meant Myles Lewis-Skelly’s chances of getting an opportunity to play in his natural position have been blocked while the arrival of Piero Hincapie has meant he has hardly featured at left-back where he impressed during his breakthrough campaign.

With the games coming thick and fast over the course of the run-in, Mikel Arteta opted to take a gamble on Saturday against Fulham and hand the Hale End Academy graduate a first start in a more central role.

Arteta’s faith was rewarded by a superb display that helped power Arsenal to a 3-0 win that saw them open a six-point gap, albeit having played two games more, at the top of the table.

Whether Arteta is brave enough to keep Lewis-Skelly in the team for the visit of Atletico Madrid in midweek remains to be seen, but Lineker couldn’t help but notice the fundamental difference the 19-year-old made to Arsenal’s attacking threat.

‘I’m going to throw something in here because I think there’s a fundamental difference between the Arsenal that we’ve seen in recent weeks,’ Linker told The Rest Is Football Podcast.

‘No disrespect to Zubimendi, but he’s a cautious player. He’s a defensive midfield player and he predominantly knocks it back.

‘I thought Myles Lewis-Skelly came in in a midfield position, not a left-back that’s moving into midfield. His first thought is to turn and look forward and quickly.

‘I think that really enabled Arsenal to get it forward quicker. It was a bit of a plan, they pushed the wingers higher. Saka was getting the ball in time to take someone on. I think he made a fundamental difference.

‘It’s quite interesting because he’s a young player and we’ve known him as a full-back. But in that midfield area, the way he was so positive and looking forward.

‘Rice is a different player in the sense that he’s probably at his best when he’s running with the ball. But he’s also a player that tends not to look for forward passes particularly quickly. So I think he really helped them.’

And after watching the teenager impress against seasoned Premier League opposition, Arteta admitted he may have made an error in holding back a player whose lack of game time has seen him linked with a move to Manchester United in the summer.

‘He fully deserves it,’ said the Arsenal manager reflecting on Lewis-Skelly’s performance in a new-look engine room. ‘I’ve been tough on him.

‘He had a spectacular season last year when he jumped into the first team. He had some difficult moments after that, but he stayed very humble, very focused, very aligned with what we wanted to do, and I knew he was ready.

‘He’s been showing in training every day the opportunities that he had to play. He’s done it and today he really stepped up and I thought he had an incredible performance.’

Asked why it had taken him so long to give Lewis-Skelly a chance to impress in midfield, he added: ’Because probably I don’t have a clue and maybe I should have done it earlier, I don’t know.’