Former Arsenal attacker, Theo Walcott, has said Mikel Arteta he is making a big mistake with his team selection.
Walcott believes that the Spaniard was only lucky to have escaped with a 1-1 draw against Manchester City on Sunday.
He said the Spanish coach would have had himself to blame had Arsenal suffered defeat at home to Pep Guardiola’s side.
It was Gabriel Martinelli’s superb injury-time finish that bailed the Gunners and rescued a point at the Emirates after Erling Haaland had fired the visitors in front.
Arteta deployed a midfield three of Martin Zubimendi, Declan Rice and Mikel Merino and many football followers considered this decision too conservative.
“There are a number of players who like to start to play in that position,” Walcott told Match of the Day when asked about Arsenal’s midfield balance.
“My question would be, why did it take until the 90th minute for Arsenal to go on the offensive, why not from the start of the game?” he added.
“I’m not normally critical of Arteta, but it feels like he got away with one today.
“It felt like he admitted he made a mistake with his team selection by making those two subs at half time, while his other substitutions came really late on.”
Arteta defended his decision after the game, insisting he felt it was the best option he had.