Jamie Carragher has reiterated his belief that Mikel Arteta has moved towards Jose Mourinho’s style of management, claiming it is down to a lack of faith in the club’s attackers.
The Sky Sports pundit previously suggested that the Arsenal boss is “slowly morphing into a Jose Mourinho style of manager”, rather than in the mould of Pep Guardiola, who he worked under at Manchester City.
Statistics show that Arsenal are ranked fifth in the Premier League this season for percentage of chances created from set-pieces, having been 17th last term, while they are also going long more often, both in open play and from David Raya in goal.
The Gunners have struggled to hit top form in attack, not helped by the fact injured captain Martin Odegaard’s last appearance for the club was at the end of August.
Reflecting on Arsenal’s start to the season, and a recruitment focus that has seen the likes of Declan Rice, Riccardo Calafiori and Mikel Merino signed, Carragher insisted Arteta believes defensive solidity is the key to winning titles.
“Anyone who thinks I just plucked this Jose Mourinho thing to create negativity around Arsenal... it’s analysing exactly where Arsenal are going,” he told Sky Sports.
“If people don’t agree with that, I don’t think you’re actually watching what’s going on with Arsenal right now.
“I think Mikel Arteta feels he doesn’t have the attacking quality that Manchester City have, so he’s going another one to try and win the league. Strong defensively and a more powerful team.”
Carragher emphasised the similarities between the current Arsenal side and Mourinho’s tactical approach, particularly during his first spell in charge of Chelsea.
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However, while the former Liverpool defender insisted his comments were not a criticism, he did point to Arsenal’s lack of trophies over the past two decades as he suggested Mourinho would not agree with the comparison.
“My first thing would be my team is going to be strong defensively - Arsenal are strong defensively,” Carragher said.
“Height and strength and power in my team... we’ve highlighted the strength and power of this Arsenal team. That’s what you get from Mourinho, that’s what you’re getting from Arsenal.
“Set-piece reliance at times. You think how powerful [Didier] Drogba and [John] Terry were at Chelsea, that’s exactly the same with Arsenal. At times, Arsenal with the goalkeeper are going direct. How often did we see Petr Cech go direct?
“The one thing that we should also say that Arsenal are not like Jose Mourinho is winning trophies.”
He added: “This is the guy that has won the Premier League three times. Arsenal haven’t won the Premier League in 20 years.”
