Gary Neville has slammed Arsenal and Mikel Arteta’s tactics in the wake of the 1-1 draw against Manchester City on Sunday.
Gunners rescue late draw against Man City
Although the Gunners will be disappointed not to take all three points against Man City, they will be pleased they managed to rescue a late draw, with Gabriel Martinelli equalising in injury time.
However, Arteta’s side have been widely criticised for viewing draws against Premier League title rivals as acceptable results in the past, and they are now five points behind Liverpool, who continued their perfect start to the season in the Merseyside derby.
In fairness, the north Londoners have already had some tough fixtures, but Arteta will be wary of not allowing a sizeable gap to open up too early, given that his side did not manage to recover from a relatively slow start last season.
Speaking on The Gary Neville Podcast after the game, however, the former Manchester United defender appeared to point the finger at the manager for his tactical approach, which heavily focuses on dominating set-pieces. He claims all you need to deal with Arteta’s methods are tall players and a physically dominant goalkeeper who clears and claims crosses.
Neville said: “They’re a one-trick pony. Set-pieces are just such a large percentage of their chances and goals that you end up in a situation where you’ve just got to have big players in the box and a goalkeeper who comes and punches, and if you don’t you’re gonna get beat up on corners and set-pieces and free-kicks.
“Arsenal are not creating enough chances in these types of games. They’re scoring lots of goals from set-pieces, six out of their nine goals before this game have come from set-pieces, one of them was a penalty. Now that’s great that they’re good at set-pieces, but it’s not good enough.”
Neville right to call Arteta’s tactics into question
In the post-match interview, Arteta appeared to suggest his side could have taken more from the match, saying: “At the very least [we deserved a point]. I’m so proud of my players, the way we played, the way we dominated almost every aspect of the game. Very disappointed not to win the game.”
However, it is difficult to agree, given that Viktor Gyokeres was largely anonymous, receiving very little service throughout the match.
Having recorded a total xG of 0.97, compared to 0.96 from City, a draw was probably a fair result, and as pointed out by Neville, Arsenal need to start creating more from open play.
After trailing for so long, Arteta will be happy his side managed to force their way back into the game, but the five-point gap that’s already opened up will be concerning, particularly considering the fixtures don’t get any easier, with Newcastle United away up next in the Premier League.
