After Mikel Arteta was compared to Jose Mourinho in the wake of Arsenal’s 2-2 draw with Liverpool Sports Mole and David Lynch look at how his tactics could affect the title race.
Arsenal have now faced both of their expected main title rivals in the Premier League this season, and they have taken two points from those two games against Manchester City and Liverpool.
Different perspectives could paint very different pictures of that scene; on the one hand, Arsenal have avoided defeat in their two toughest games of the campaign so far, one when playing with 10 men for 45 minutes and the other while missing some key players through injury and suspension.
On the other hand, Arsenal were well placed to win both, taking 2-1 leads into the closing stages on both occasions, only to concede late and ultimately miss out on four points that they had in their grasp.
While every other match is worth just as many points as those two, and a defeat to Bournemouth has been their most damaging result yet, the impact of those draws can already clearly be seen in the Premier League table – had Arsenal hung on in both games, they would be level on points with Liverpool and just one behind Man City.
As it is, they trail the champions by five points and are four adrift of Liverpool.
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The circumstances of the two matches were very different, but interestingly manager Mikel Arteta adopted similar tactics in both games when his side had the lead in the second half.
There was a feeling that his hand was forced to a certain extent against Man City on September 22, when Leandro Trossard‘s reckless red card left them having to play the entirety of the second half with 10 men away at the Etihad Stadium – quite possibly the toughest test in world football.
Arteta duly instructed his players to camp around their box and defend their lead at all costs, and they so nearly produced a defensive masterclass before John Stones finally found a dramatic 98th-minute equaliser for Pep Guardiola‘s men.
Even though it was a gut-wrenching end to the game, once the dust had settled it looked like a very good result for the Gunners under the circumstances, and both Arteta and his team were praised for their defensive solidity and ability to protect their lead for so long.
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Fast forward just over a month, and Arsenal again went into the second half with a 2-1 advantage against a title rival, but this time they were at home and still had their full complement of players on the pitch.
Once again, though, there was an element of cautiousness about Arsenal’s approach – not to the same extent as against Man City, but they certainly took their foot off the pedal and, coupled with improvement and tactical tweaks from Liverpool, that allowed Arne Slot‘s side to get back into the game before Mohamed Salah earned the Reds a point.
After that match, Jamie Carragher suggested that Arteta was evolving into more of a Jose Mourinho-type manager as opposed to being in the Guardiola mould, despite having worked with Guardiola at Man City.
Mourinho is one of the most successful managers of the modern era, winning eight different league titles in four different countries, and much more silverware beyond that, including two Champions League crowns.
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However, the former Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester United boss’s name has almost become a byword for more defensive, negative football in the Guardiola era, with a perception that the sport has moved on since Mourinho enjoyed his heyday.
As such, Carragher’s comparison was seen as a criticism of Arteta by some, but should the Arsenal boss regard the comments as an insult or as praise?
Sports Mole editor Barney Corkhill spoke with Liverpool expert David Lynch to discuss the Reds’ 2-2 draw with Arsenal, where it leaves both sides in the title race, and whether Arteta’s tactics could help or hinder the Gunners as they look to topple Man City and Liverpool.
Click play on the video above to listen to the full discussion.
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