“It happens too often” – Carragher accuses Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta of ‘slowly morphing into Jose Mourinho’



Jamie Carragher has accused Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta of ‘morphing into a Jose Mourinho type of manager’. 

Carragher’s comments came after Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Premier League title rivals Liverpool.

The Gunners twice took the lead in the first half at the Emirates Stadium, with Bukayo Saka and Mikel Merino scoring either side of Virgil van Dijk’s equaliser.

However, Arsenal took their foot off the gas in the second half, allowing Liverpool to push them further and further back.

Eventually, the pressure proved too much, with Mohamed Salah netting in the 81st minute to snatch a point for Arne Slot’s men.

Is Mikel Arteta ‘morphing’ into Jose Mourinho?

Carragher has accused Arteta of becoming too negative. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

After the match, former Manchester United captain Roy Keane questioned the ‘mentality’ of Arsenal’s players.

But Carragher has placed the blame on Arteta, who he believes is moving away from being a Pep Guardiola clone and shifting toward a more pragmatic, Mourinho-esque style.

“Because Mikel Arteta worked with Pep Guardiola, we’re almost thinking this a Pep Guardiola disciple,” Carragher told Sky Sports.

“If you look at the two most successful managers of the last 10 or 15 years, you’ve got Pep Guardiola here with a certain style of football, and you’ve got Jose Mourinho, almost equally as successful at the other end.

“Mikel Arteta is slowly morphing into a Jose Mourinho type of manager and nobody really thought that would happen. I just think it’s really interesting how he’s got there.”

Further explaining his hypothesis, Carragher continued: “You see today, 2-1 up, pressing Liverpool, on top of Liverpool, playing really well. Then they retreat in the second half.

“Now, I know they had a couple of injuries at the back, but they’ve still got the midfielders playing, still got their attacking players playing, who you think ‘can you get on the ball, can you try and take the sting out of the pressure you’re under?’

“That’s come from the manager, but it happens too often now.

“You see it when they have 10 men. I get what happened at City, I thought what they did at City was brilliant. But what they did against Brighton, what they were doing against Bournemouth last week. Top teams I’ve seen before with 10 men — I go back to my own experience as well — yeah, you’re under pressure, but you relieve it. You keep the ball a bit more, you’re still a threat going forward.”