ARSENAL boss Mikel Arteta has been slammed as a “one-trick pony” by Gary Neville.
The Gunners just managed to snatch a 1-1 draw against Manchester City on Sunday at the Emirates thanks to a last-gasp equaliser by Gabriel Martinelli during stoppage time.
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Neville, 50, wasn’t at all impressed with Arteta’s tactics and didn’t hold back during his scathing post-match criticism.
The Manchester United legend insists the Spanish tactician focuses too much on set pieces and that allowed City to neutralise Arsenal’s threat throughout their Premier League encounter.
The former England international is also adamant the 43-year-old got his team selection wrong and it showed at half-time when he made a double substitution.
Neville said on the Gary Neville Podcast: “[Pep] Guardiola has recognised that Arsenal are a one-trick pony.
“Set-pieces are such a large percentage of their chances and goals, that you end up in a situation where you just have to have big players in the box and the goalkeeper who comes and punches… They did it absolutely perfectly.
“We’re talking about a really good coach who’s done a fantastic job with a great group of players, who’ve put on a great show here now for four or five years and been second in the league three times on the run.
“It’s a great achievement. Let’s be clear, I’m not patronising them in any way, shape or form but you’ve got to win a title or else you will not be remembered. That’s number one.
“My narrative with Arsenal was thinking, Is [Arteta] going to take the risk? Is he going to send these players the message that ‘I am going for it’, that ‘I believe in you’.
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“And the team sheet comes through, and I see [Leandro] Trossard, who’s a very good player, and [Mikel] Merino are on it.
“His actions at half-time were of a manager who got it wrong, because if you [are] making two substitutions at half-time, it’s not gone to plan and you know that the players that you started with are not going to be able to win you the game. So you’ve given away 45 minutes in a big match.
“The job of a football manager at the absolute top level is to get the most talented players out on the pitch without compromise to the defence, not get your safest players out on the pitch and try and pinch a game. That’s not what you do at a top club.
“Arsenal are not creating enough chances in these types of games, they are scoring lots of goals from set pieces.
“Six out of their nine goals before this game have come from set pieces, and one of them was a penalty. It’s great that they’re good at set pieces, but it’s not good enough.
“But does the manager and the players really believe that they can win the league? Do they really believe? Are they really thinking it every single minute of every day? Because that’s what it is and what it takes.”
Neville also questioned Arteta‘s belief in finally winning the Prem with Arsenal after finishing second in the table three years in a row.
The pundit added: “And the second bit is: Do they know how to win a league? Does the manager know how to win a league?
‘Got to take the handbrake off’
“Does he know how to get the players over the line throughout the season? Did the players know how to get over the line?
“That’s the doubt I’ve got about Arsenal, and it isn’t going to go away until someone proves me wrong… I like watching them play, but they’ve got to take the handbrake off.”
Arteta admitted he was “very disappointed” with the result, which saw Arsenal getting saved by Martinelli’s equaliser in the third minute of stoppage time after Erling Haaland’s early opener.
However, the Spaniard insisted he is still “very proud” of the team as he believed they dominated Man City.
Arteta ‘very proud’
Arteta told Sky Sports: “I’m very proud of the team. I must say, the way we played, we dominated them and I’m very disappointed with the result.
“We started incredibly well. So dominant again. We were playing in their half, and we didn’t allow them to breathe. But in one action, that was very chaotic, because the ball bounces.
“It’s a duel there, we lose it, and suddenly find themselves to be true in open spaces.
“And they are lethal there, and they finish the action with the quality that they have.
“After that, we had our five shaky minutes that we have to reset mentally because it was so unfair to concede a goal with what we were doing, and after that, we just completely dominated the game again.
“They win every match. It’s going to be very difficult but if we play at this level, like we did against Manchester City, we will be fine.”
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GABRIEL MARTINELLI came off the bench to rescue a point for Arsenal against Man City.
