Theo Walcott believes Mikel Arteta needs to reconsider the balance of his midfield after Arsenal’s 1-1 draw with Manchester City on Sunday.
Despite dominating possession and territory, the Gunners had to be bailed out by Gabriel Martinelli’s superb injury-time finish to rescue a point at the Emirates.
Pep Guardiola’s side hit the front early through Erling Haaland’s ruthless finish, and were quite happy to sit back and soak up pressure from an Arsenal side that were largely toothless in the final third.
And while the late goal ensured Arsenal didn’t go home empty-handed, the home side still came in for criticism for their safety-first approach.
The midfield three of Martin Zubimendi, Declan Rice and Mikel Merino, in particular, was considered too conservative by many, especially as Merino and Rice have won only one of ten games when starting together in the middle of the park.
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But Walcott believes that Zubimedi and Merino – both teammates at club and country level – may actually be proving more problematic for Arteta and should not be started together in Arteta’s midfield.
‘There are a number of players who like to start to play in that position,’ Walcott told Match of the Day when asked about Arsenal’s midfield balance.
Metro at the Match: Arsenal 1-1 Manchester City
Metro at the Match returns to bring you all the analysis from the biggest games of the season.
Here are our team’s key takeaways from Arsenal 1-1 Manchester City.
Anonymous Gyokeres again
‘Viktor Gyokeres struggled to have any sort of impact for Arsenal again, which is becoming a worrying pattern when they face a good side.
‘It remains early in the Swede’s Arsenal career but he has been concerningly anonymous in the majority of games he has played so far.
‘Goals have come at home against Leeds and Nottingham Forest, but he has been completely forgettable against the likes of Manchester United, Liverpool, Athletic Club and now Manchester City.
‘Gyokeres may well end the season with decent numbers if he continues to be a flat track bully, but will he win Arsenal the Premier League? Probably not.’ Phil Haigh – sports reporter.
Arteta gets midfield selection all wrong
‘Given the criticism Mikel Arteta faced for his midfield selection in the 1-0 defeat to Liverpool this season, it was a shock to see him go with the same trio at home to Manchester City.
‘Arsenal were far too negative in that match at Anfield and it was the same problem in the first half against City as Arteta named Martin Zubimendi, Declan Rice and Mikel Merino in his XI.
‘The Gunners were lacking in the creative department, especially with Martin Odegaard out injured and Bukayo Saka deemed not fit enough to start.
‘Eberechi Eze was dropped to the bench – a decision which baffled the pundits – and Arteta was surely aware of his error as he decided to bring on Eze and Saka for Merino and Noni Madueke at the break.
‘That’s twice this season Arteta has got his selection wrong in big games and he must learn from this mistake.’ Liam Grace – sports reporter.
Haaland wins this round with arch-rival Gabriel
‘This was the latest battle in the ongoing war between Erling Haaland and Gabriel Magalhães and it was a clear win for the giant Norwegian.
‘Haaland left Gabriel in his wake as he sprinted beyond the Arsenal defence to score the opener, calmly finishing to put his team ahead.
‘The Brazilian was made to look slow, which he isn’t, but the Manchester City superstar looks like a powerful race horse when he gets going and he wasn’t going to be caught.
‘The rivalry was sparked when Haaland threw the ball at Gabriel’s head after a Manchester City equaliser in September last year, with the Arsenal man gaining revenge by screaming in the Norwegian’s face during the Gunners’ rampant 5-1 win in February.
‘No doubt Haaland has regained the upper hand.’ Phil Haigh – sports reporter.
‘Merino isn’t that No10 and I’d like to see someone like Eze up there who is going to be a bit more creative.
‘We’ve got some similar players and you have a lot of players who are left footers as well.
‘Merino and Zubimendi are both that and very similar in that sense and sometimes for me at they get in each other’s way. For me, the balance isn’t right.’
And, like many, Walcott went further with his criticism of Arsenal’s set-up, insisting he was surprised by how long his former side left it before upping the intensity to hunt for an equaliser.
‘My question would be, why did it take until the 90th minute for Arsenal to go on the offensive, why not from the start of the game?’ he added.
‘I’m not normally critical of Arteta, but it feels like he got away with one today. It felt like he admitted he made a mistake with his team selection by making those two subs at half time, while his other substitutions came really late on.’
Arteta, meanwhile, sought to defend his midfield selection, asserting post-match that: ‘I thought it was the best one to start the game. Nobody asked me about the midfield three in Bilbao (where Arsenal won 2-0 in midweek).’
Asked what went into his team selection more generally, the Spaniard added: ‘Well, there are a lot of factors, obviously. The first one is their performance level and the emotional state that they are in. That’s one.
‘After that, it’s what we believe is the best thing in relation to the opponent and the type of game that we predict. And after that, there is as well chemistry and relationships that make each other better and we need to understand it.’
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