\n<\/p>\n
Declan Rice is \u201cshattered\u201d thanks to a Mikel Arteta \u201ctrust\u201d issue as the Arsenal boss is urged to drop a teammate they\u2019re \u201cgrowing away\u201d from.<\/p>\n
Arsenal secured a 1-1 draw at the Wanda Metropolitano on Wednesday to make them favourites to make the Champions League final ahead of the second leg at the Emirates next week.<\/p>\n
It was a professional performance from the Gunners in which Rice stood out as one of the better players, as has so often been the case this season.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: VAR and its foundational lie exposed yet again as Arsenal pay penalty in Madrid<\/strong><\/p>\n But Agbonlahor picked the England international as a \u201cshattered\u201d player in an altogether \u201creally tired\u201d Arsenal team.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat stood out for me last night, and it stood out to me against Newcastle: players looking tired,\u201d he told talkSPORT<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re looking really tired. And I hope this doesn\u2019t affect Arsenal. They\u2019ve got a chance of winning two trophies.<\/p>\n \u201cCould the tiredness in the squad affect them? They\u2019ve played 57 games this season, Arsenal. Fulham, who they play on the weekend, have only played 41.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you watch Declan Rice, and especially on Saturday, he looks shattered when you watch him.\u201d<\/p>\n Rice and midfield partner Martin Zubimendi have both already played over 50 games in all competitions the season despite Arteta having \u00a315m summer signing Christian Norgaard in reserve.<\/p>\n The Denmark international hasn\u2019t featured in any of Arsenal\u2019s last six games and has played just 56 minutes of Premier League football this season.<\/p>\n On Norgaard\u2019s lack of football, Agbonlahor added: \u201cI\u2019m surprised Norgard hasn\u2019t played a lot more this season because he was Brentford\u2019s captain.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought he was fantastic at Brentford. He doesn\u2019t trust him at all. He\u2019s played hardly any games this season.\u201d<\/p>\n MAILBOX: Atletico v Arsenal was \u2018football on codeine\u2019 as Eze accused of dive<\/strong><\/p>\n Meanwhile, Mikel Arteta has been urged to strip Martin Odegaard of the captaincy after the Gunners skipper was replaced by Eberechi Eze after an hour of their semi-final first leg on Wednesday.<\/p>\n Jamie O\u2019Hara told talkSPORT<\/em><\/strong>: \u201cLast season, he wasn\u2019t great either. He\u2019s been terrible this season, getting dragged off in a Champions League semi-final when you\u2019re the captain is never a good look.<\/p>\n \u201cI do believe that Arsenal may be growing away from Odegaard. Maybe they\u2019ve got to look at a player who can come in and be that talisman.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen Eze came on tonight, he kept getting caught in possession. He\u2019s done a couple of good things, but is he the world-class star in the number 10 role for Arsenal? I\u2019m not sure. But Odegaard needs to up his game.<\/p>\n \u201cHe needs to buck his ideas up because he will end up falling down the pecking order. I don\u2019t think he can be the captain anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/div>\nAre Arsenal outgrowing their captain?<\/h2>\n