Jamie Carragher shares what he noticed Arteta do when watching Arsenal game back

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Jamie Carragher has shared how he noticed while watching Arsenal’s draw with Chelsea back how Mikel Arteta had his team prepared to go direct in the latter stages, and called for the change just before Leandro Trossard scored the equaliser.

Carragher was speaking on Monday Night Football (broadcast on 23/10; 19:30) after the Gunners came from 2-0 down late on to earn a point against the Blues.

Arsenal were extremely poor during the first-half at Stamford Bridge. But Jamie Carragher has lauded Mikel Arteta for changing the game to help inspire the comeback.

Carragher noted that he watched the game for a second time on Sunday with the benefit of some additional camera angles.

Jamie Carragher praises Mikel Arteta after Arsenal draw

And he noticed how Arteta was calling for changes just before David Raya sent a long ball up to Kai Havertz to kickstart the move which would culminate in Leandro Trossard volleying the ball to make the score 2-2.

“Watching the game last night with the nice cameras that Sky provide for me to watch the game last night, I saw something that Mikel Arteta did from the side of the pitch,” he told Monday Night Football.

“Arsenal made substitutions in the game, but didn’t really change their structure. So if you look at what happened, they made substitutions. Emile Smith Rowe had come on, Trossard had come on, Kai Havertz had come on.

“We’ll just look at the set-up. Emile Smith Rowe, Declan Rice, Kai Havertz there, that midfield three that you normally associate with Arsenal, the system that they play.

“Just keep an eye here on Mikel Arteta. The game is stopped and he’s trying to get instructions onto the pitch. He’s waving his arms about. Kai Havertz now, as we see, coming over to Emile Smith Rowe, trotting over to have a little chat.

“I thought, well okay, maybe they’re changing sides. But no, it was a big difference in that Kai Havertz has now gone up front. Emile Smith Rowe is now going deeper. And he is now going to go alongside Declan Rice in that midfield.”

Gunners boss was clearly prepared to switch things up

As Carragher would go on to note, Arsenal would move from a 4-3-3 to a 4-2-4 formation before Raya sent the ball up the pitch. Havertz would win his header. And that would allow the team to get up the pitch and create the opportunity for Trossard.

Carragher also suggested that Arsenal had struggled to play through the lines throughout the game. And with that, Arteta had the sense to urge his team to go direct and try to ask different questions of Chelsea.

Obviously, he is relying on his side making something happen once they are in the final third. But clearly, Arsenal have the quality to take any opportunity. They were two outstanding finishes from two world-class players on Saturday.

But Arteta had the sense to instruct his players to try something different.

And with Carragher noticing how seamlessly Havertz and Smith Rowe moved to their new roles, clearly Arteta had his side prepared for that possibility.

Unsurprisingly with Arteta, it proved to be an inspired decision from the touchline.