Jamie Carragher has doubled down on his claim that Arsenal are morphing into a side that resembles a “Jose Mourinho team”, believing Mikel Arteta’s recent transfer business indicates a switch in approach.
Carragher’s take that the Arsenal boss was more Mourinho than Pep Guardiola after last month’s 2-2 draw with title rivals Liverpool at the Emirates had drawn criticism from some sections of the Gunners faithful.
But, speaking on Monday Night Football, Carragher defended his comments and laid out why he thinks Arteta’s approach has similarities to Mourinho, ahead of Arsenal’s trip to his former side Inter in the Champions League.
Why I was right about Arsenal under Arteta
Read Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher’s full explanation and analysis…
I struggle to see, especially in big away games, how Arsenal are going to score a goal not from a set-piece. The elephant in the room is that Martin Odegaard’s missing through injury.
He’s probably in the top four or five players in the Premier League, so there’s no doubt he makes a huge difference. But don’t forget, Man City are without Kevin De Bruyne this season, and for a lot of last season as well, so Arsenal are heavily reliant on him.
I made a comment last week that Mikel Arteta’s football is morphing into Jose Mourinho.
I’ve looked at the players Mikel Arteta’s signed, because I didn’t just come up with this idea last week. I’ve been thinking this for a few months.
Towards the start of his reign in 2021, Ben White was brought in, a ball-playing centre-back, it almost felt like he was going to be to Arsenla what John Stones was to Man City.
Odegaard also came in – again, an intricate player between the lines. So you can see the type of football and team that Arteta wanted.
The following season, the first time Arsenal challenged for the title, two players came from Manchester City, Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko. He’s a full-back who likes to go into midfield.
Then Fabio Vieira, a midfielder, only 5ft 7in, so again, intricate football and players, you can see what he’s trying to build and what team he wants. Very similar almost to Manchester City.
Arteta then loses the league title again after Arsenal got bullied at Manchester City’s ground towards the end of the season. And I think there was a feeling that Arsenal were not strong enough, not powerful enough.
So he brought in Declan Rice, 6ft 2in, box-to-box midfield player. Kai Havertz, an attacking player, whether that’s midfield or part of your front three, but he’s not a silky player, he’s a physical player. He holds the ball up, he’s good in the air. Jurrien Timber, brilliant defender, but he’s a solid defender first and foremost, not like a Zinchenko going into midfield.
So when I talk about where this team is morphing to, I don’t just pluck a statement out to try and create headlines. And it’s not a criticism. It’s an analysis that this team has gone from intricate players to strong, powerful players.
This summer again, Riccardo Calafiori, he’s a centre-back playing left-back, and Mikel Merino comes in, 6ft 2in, midfield player, who, when he joined the club, came out and said: ‘When I went into the dressing room, I felt like I was with a basketball team, not a football team, because of the size of all the players.’
This is not a criticism. This is an analysis of where Arteta is trying to take this team and how he’s trying to win the Premier League title.
Guardiola and Mourinho are the two most dominant and successful managers in the last 15-20 years. But they’re at both ends of the spectrum in terms of style of football.
You look at the players brought in at Arsenal and it is morphing towards Mourinho. It’s not a criticism for Arsenal or Mikel Arteta, it’s analysis. Because this is a guy who’s won the Premier League three times.
Arsenal haven’t won the Premier League for 20 years. So it’s just where he’s taken them. If you think of Mourinho as a manager, if he took over my club, what would I think I was getting? My team’s going to be strong defensively. No doubt about that.
Arsenal are strong defensively. Height and strength and power – that’s what you get from Mourinho. That’s what you’re getting from Arsenal right now.
Set-piece reliance is another thing you’d expect from a Mourinho team. Remember how powerful Didier Drogba and John Terry were at Chelsea? That’s exactly the same with Arsenal, relying on set pieces.
Arsenal are going more direct with the goalkeeper, David Raya, this season. How often did we see Petr Cech go direct to Didier Drogba and he would knock it down to Frank Lampard?
The one thing that we should also say is that Arsenal are not like Mourinho in terms of winning trophies yet. Now, if Mourinho is watching, he’ll see the graphic and say: ‘But I win trophies’.
At the moment, Arsenal haven’t won the trophy. They’ve been fantastic. The football they play is superb and how they’re going about it.
But anyone who thinks I just plucked this Mourinho thing out to create negativity around Arsenal – it’s analysing exactly where Arsenal are going. And if people don’t agree with that, I don’t think you’re actually watching what’s going on with Arsenal right now.
I think Arteta feels he doesn’t have the attacking quality that Manchester City have, so he’s going another way to try and win the league, which is being strong defensively and a more powerful team.