Liverpool legend, Jamie Carragher, has warned that Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta’s conservative approach may jeopardize the Gunners’ Premier League title hopes this season.
Carragher believes Arteta is making the same mistake repeatedly every season, describing it as a ‘recurring pattern’.
The Englishman spoke after Arsenal’s Premier League 1-1 draw with Man City on Sunday at the Emirates Stadium.
“I think they [Arsenal] wasted 45 minutes,” Carragher said on Sky Sports.
“Mikel Arteta has got a team and squad that are that close to being really, really special in terms of winning a Premier League and maybe even a Champions League, I think they are that good.
“But time after time when it comes to these big games he picks a team that feels like he is thinking more about the opposition.
“That doesn’t mean you can’t win the Premier League. Jose Mourinho won the Premier League three times and he was a little bit like that.
“But for me that was a waste for 45 minutes and the reason I am saying that is because I played for managers who did that at Liverpool.
“We were really close, we were a top team but we never won the Premier League. I always felt at times under Gerard Houllier and Rafa Benitez maybe we had the handbrake on now and again in certain games.
“That is what Mikel Arteta is doing. Liverpool were there for the taking in that second half at Anfield. Man City were there for the taking at the start of this game and he is allowed them to come into the game.
“It’s just a recurring pattern, season after season and if you are Mikel Arteta or an Arsenal supporter you have just got to hope that doesn’t cost you at the end of the season because they are a brilliant team.”
