Premier League icon Jamie Carragher has claimed Mikel Arteta is becoming more like Jose Mourinho than mentor Pep Guardiola, suggesting that Arsenal don’t play ‘great football’.
Arsenal are eager to win the Premier League this season having failed to do last time out. However, Mikel Arteta’s side had l to settle for a 2-2 draw at home to title rivals Liverpool on Sunday.
The result leaves Arsenal five points adrift of Guardiola’s Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table, having also dropped points by losing to Bournemouth last weekend.
Speaking after the game, Liverpool legend Carragher believes that there’ve been plenty of other occasions when the Arsenal boss has been too conservative, echoing Mourinho’s tactics rather than Guardiola’s.
“I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, probably going back to this fixture last year,” Carragher began on Sky Sports, having watched Mohamed Salah equalise for his former club, keeping them four points above Arsenal in second.
“Because Mikel Arteta worked with Pep we all think he is a Pep Guardiola disciple. If you look at the two most successful managers in the last 10-15 years you’ve got Pep on one end and Jose – almost equally successful – at the other end.
“Mikel Arteta is slowly morphing into a Jose Mourinho type of manager and no one really thought that would happen. They were 2-1 up, pressing Liverpool, on top and playing really well but they retreated in the second half.
“I know they had a couple of injuries at the back but they still got the midfield players and some attackers who you think you can get on the ball and go forward and try and take the sting out of the pressure you’re under. But that instinct to protect comes from the manager but it happens too often.”
