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Pundit slams Arteta for using Guimaraes vs Brighton

By on September 23, 2026

Bruno Guimarães arsenal

Former midfielder turned pundit Paul Merson has slammed Mikel Arteta for using Bruno Guimaraes over Myles Lewis-Skelly in Arsenal’s 3-0 defeat to Brighton and Hove Albion last weekend.

After moving to the Emirates Stadium from Brentford, Christian Norgaard struggled to break into Arteta’s starting line-up last campaign.

As a result, the Gunners decided to sell him to Everton and purchase the Brazilian from Newcastle United. Guimaraes has established himself as one of the best midfielders in the Premier League by displaying impressive performances at St James’ Park over the last few years.

The former Olympique Lyonnais star has even enjoyed a promising start this season, helping Arsenal beat Sunderland by scoring an excellent goal earlier this month.

So, he was rewarded with a start vs the Seagulls on Saturday, but Arsenal ultimately lost the game 3-0. This was their first defeat of this season.

Now, on Sky Sports (via Metro), Merson has slammed Arteta’s decision to start Guimaraes this weekend as it didn’t work. They were outrun and overpowered by Brighton in midfield and even got ripped to shreds.

The pundit feels that Lewis-Skelly would have been a better option to commence alongside Declan Rice in midfield for this encounter.

Merson said:

“I’d like to ask Mikel Arteta what his thinking was behind playing Bruno Guimaraes over Myles Lewis-Skelly at Brighton. I don’t know if he thought it would be a nice football match, that Brighton would be tired after coming from 2-0 down against Manchester United on Wednesday? It just didn’t work. Arsenal got outrun, they got overpowered in midfield, they got ripped to shreds.”

Pundit slams Arteta

Arteta likes having versatile players, and Guimaraes can provide cover in the box-to-box and defensive midfield positions. He is even efficient in the CAM role if needed.

After losing to Brighton, Arsenal have dropped to second position with 12 points from five games, sitting three points behind table topper Manchester City.

However, the North London club won the Community Shield by thrashing the Citizens 3-0 last month. On the other hand, Arsenal have even reached the Carabao Cup fourth round by defeating Ipswich Town last week.

Meanwhile, following a long international break, the Emirates club are set to return to action against Leeds United in the Premier League before taking on LOSC Lille in the Champions League next month.