Tribal Football

Arteta explains why Calafiori did not feature in Liverpool loss

Arteta explains why Calafiori did not feature in Liverpool loss
Arteta explains why Calafiori did not feature in Liverpool lossAction Plus
After a 2-1 loss against Liverpool in Philadelphia, Mikel Arteta held his final press conference of the USA tour and spoke on Riccardo Calafiori's absence.

Calafiori signed from Bologna in a deal worth £42m but is yet to feature for the Gunners due to a number of issues. 

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Arteta spoke on the defender's absence and why he missed out against Liverpool

“We had to manage him. He had a very busy 48 hours before he took his flight and joined us here, and then it was the jetlag, it's a lot of things. He hasn't trained with the team yet and we want to build him up slowly to get to know him first. We'll have plenty of time to see him.” 

Calafiori will have his work cut out for him to solve Arsenal’s defensive issues on the left side as Arsenal’s struggles at left-back were put on full display in the early portion of the game against Liverpool. 

Mohamed Salah opened the scoring in the 13th minute, speeding past Oleksandr Zinchenko who has struggled to find game time in recent years at the club. 

The Italian looks to be a clear replacement for the Ukranian who seems to be out of his depth against attackers with speed and strength like Salah. 

Takehiro Tomiyasu is the main replacement for Zinchenko but his constant injury woes make him unreliable, bringing in Calafiori is imperative for Arsenal to succeed or at least keep poor defensive errors away.