Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher has criticised Mikel Arteta for his cautious tactics, warning that it could derail Arsenal’s Premier League title ambitions.
Carragher argued that the Arsenal manager, a former assistant to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, is falling into the same tactical traps repeatedly.
The Gunners narrowly avoided a second loss of the season after playing out a 1-1 draw with Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.
Erling Haaland gave City an early lead just nine minutes into the match, and Guardiola’s team held onto the advantage until stoppage time, when Gabriel Martinelli netted a last-minute equaliser in the 93rd minute.
Despite dominating possession with more than 67 percent, Arsenal struggled to break down a defensively set-up City side.
Carragher pointed to Arteta’s choice of a conservative midfield setup—featuring Declan Rice, Martin Zubimendi, and Mikel Merino—as a key issue. He noted that the match became more fluid and dynamic when Ebere Eze and Bukayo Saka came on to replace Noni Madueke and Merino.
Carragher believes Arteta’s overly cautious approach could once again prevent Arsenal from securing the league title.
“Mikel Arteta has got a team and squad that are that close to being really, really special in terms of winning a Premier League and maybe even a Champions League, I think they’re that good.
“But time after time when it comes to these big games he picks a team that feels like he’s thinking more about the opposition.
“That doesn’t mean you can’t win the Premier League. Jose Mourinho won the Premier League three times and he was a little bit like that.
“But for me that was a waste for 45 minutes and the reason I’m saying that is because I played for managers who did that at Liverpool.
“We were really close, we were a top team but we never won the Premier League. I always felt at times under Gerard Houllier and Rafa Benitez maybe we had the handbrake on now and again in certain games.
“That is what Mikel Arteta is doing. Liverpool were there for the taking in that second half at Anfield. Man City were there for the taking at the start of this game and he’s allowed them to come into the game.
“It’s just a recurring pattern, season after season and if you’re Mikel Arteta or an Arsenal supporter you’ve just got to hope that it doesn’t cost you at the end of the season because they are a brilliant team.”
Arsenal are now five points behind league-leaders, Liverpool.
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