Arteta's actions during Porto loss hint he 'doesn't trust' certain players

Former Arsenal striker Theo Walcott has questioned whether Mikel Arteta trusts certain players after his reluctance to make substitutions in Wednesday night's loss at FC Porto.

The Gunners headed into the first leg of their Champions League round-of-16 tie as red-hot favourites to progress but were far from their fluent best in Portugal. And they now have it all to do if they are to qualify for the competition's quarter-finals after a last-gasp goal from Galeno gave Porto a one-goal cushion ahead of next month's return leg.

Despite a subpar performance, Arteta opted against making changes and only introduced Jorginho from the bench, with the Italian playmaker getting the nod to replace Leandro Trossard in the 76th minute in a bid to shut up shop.

And Walcott, who was analysing the game for BBC Radio 5 Live, has suggested that the lack of changes may imply that the Spaniard doesn't fully trust some of his squad players.

He said: "I remember being in this certain position before and being subbed as a forward player. Martinelli, for instance, could be tired, he’s worked really hard, tracking his full-back quite a lot tonight. Of course, yes, lazy pass, loses the ball [for Porto’s goal], but then I’ve just got to question this squad depth of Arsenal at the start of the game – does Mikel trust the players?

"He only brought on one sub tonight and I just feel it could’ve been a game where we completely just shut up shop, maybe just slow it down even slower than it was and take off certain players, obviously [Bukayo] Saka wasn’t as effective tonight.

"It’ll be completely different at the Emirates, I’m sure, but as a coach would you feel you’d want to make more subs knowing that the game is stagnating."

He continued: "It’s a tricky one