Jamie Carragher has suggested Mikel Arteta is turning into the next Jose Mourinho rather than the new Pep Guardiola.
Arsenal, derailed by injuries to Gabriel and Jurrien Timber, were held to a 2-2 draw by Liverpool after dominating the first half.
The Gunners were pegged back after the break, with the game following a similar pattern to their draws with Brighton and Man City and followed by the recent defeat by Bournemouth.
“I’m starting to worry about Arsenal’s mentality now,” concluded Sky Sports’ Roy Keane.
“When they get themselves in front, they sit back, instead of going after the third goal. Liverpool were there for the taking if they wanted it. I just worry about their belief, do they have the belief that they can really challenge Manchester City?”
In mitigation, all of Arsenal’s previous setbacks this season have occurred when reduced to 10 players and they played for a large chunk of the second half against Liverpool – who entered the weekend’s fixtures top of the table – with a back four of Thomas Partey, Ben White, Jakub Kiwior and Myles Lewis-Skelly.
“The interesting thing about watching Arsenal, and I have been thinking about this for a long time, because Mikel Arteta worked with Pep Guardiola we have been thinking that he is a Pep Guardiola disciple,” Carragher said.
“But if you think about the two most successful managers in the last 15 years then you have Pep Guardiola over here and Jose Mourinho over here.
“Mikel Arteta is slowing morphing into a Jose Mourinho type of manager. Nobody really thought that was going to happen. Today, they retreated in the second half.”
More to follow…
