Mikel Arteta should have made bold double Arsenal team call before Man City clash, says Gary Neville

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Mikel Arteta has been accused of being too defensive with his team selection once again, as his Arsenal side took on Manchester City.

The Gunners have faced a difficult fixture list early on in the Premier League, but the results have flowed relatively well.

Arsenal’s defeat to Liverpool was the only major concern early on, but the tough encounters have continued.

Pep Guardiola took his Manchester City team to the capital, ready to reunite with his old assistant Mikel Arteta at the Emirates Stadium.

The Arsenal boss came under fire, however, for his starting lineup and the decision he made later in the game to seemingly rectify it.

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Gary Neville questions Mikel Arteta for the starting lineup in Arsenal vs Manchester City

Arsenal have been accused of being too defensive at times under Arteta, most recently in the defeat to Liverpool.

It was a similar team taking on Manchester City, and after going into the break behind, thanks to an Erling Haaland goal, the manager made some changes.

He brought on Eberechi Eze and Bukayo Saka, hopeful that they could bring the team back into the game.

It was a decision, however, that Neville claims should’ve happened even earlier.

The former Manchester United man said on Sky Sports’ coverage of Arsenal vs Manchester City: “Look, it may be a big reflection point this, for Mikel Arteta [the half-time substitutions].

“I said before the game in the interview that we’ve got to stop looking at what he says and start looking at what he does, and it’s taken him 45 minutes and a basic first half of football to make the decision that he should have made yesterday on the training ground, where it was obvious that they were gonna struggle to create chances in this game, and creating players on the pitch.

“And he’s a fantastic manager, Mikel Arteta, but having played under one of the best at taking risks. Your job is to get, at the biggest clubs, the most talented players out on the pitch without compromising your defensive stability.

“It’s not the other way around, which is to get the most basic players out on the pitch and think he’s basically keeping a clean sheet and winning with a set piece, and he’s changed it.”

It was a double decision with Eze and Saka that Arteta may not have made if he could go back, perhaps putting them in from the start.

Arsenal responded with much more creativity and intensity, but there will be some frustration that they didn’t start in that way.

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Arsenal squad options may be tempting Mikel Arteta’s decisions

The one thing that Arsenal have done well in recent years is build a squad for Arteta that has multiple profiles in every area of the pitch.

That may have tempted the manager to set up in a way that allows his team to keep it tight, before finishing the game strongly from the bench.

It’s something that he has alluded to, with Arteta revealing his substitutes are called finishers, with the idea of having those who start and end the game.

It may be better for Arteta to think the other way around, looking at how to win the game first, then shore things up.