The Fort Worth Press - Arteta slams 'handbrake' criticism as Arsenal boss defends tactics

Former England stars Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher accused Arsenal of playing with the handbrake on following Arteta's controversial team selection for Sunday's 1-1 draw against Manchester City.

Arsenal winger Eberechi Eze dropped to the bench, despite Martin Odegaard's absence, with Martin Zubimendi, Declan Rice and Mikel Merino forming the midfield trio again after they flopped in a 1-0 defeat at Premier League champions Liverpool in August.

Arteta's tactics were in danger of backfiring after Erling Haaland gave City an early lead at the Emirates Stadium.

It was only when Arteta sent on Eze and Bukayo Saka at half-time that Arsenal finally took charge.

Even then they needed a stoppage-time goal from Gabriel Martinelli to rescue a 1-1 draw that left them five points behind leaders Liverpool in the title race.

Without a trophy since the 2020 FA Cup and having finished as Premier League runners-up for the last three seasons, Arteta is facing mounting questions about his ability to turn Arsenal into champions.

But he responded to the latest criticism of his game-plan with a stinging rebuttal.

"I don't read it but if you tell me that this is the main one (narrative), I would be extremely surprised with my knowledge and my know-how and how I analyse a football game," he told reporters on Tuesday.

"Because it was impossible for somebody to predict such a dominance from Arsenal throughout 96 minutes, because it never happened in 17 years of Pep (Guardiola) as a manager.

"So if the narrative goes somewhere else and we're talking about dominance, how can you be dominant against such a team if you have, what was the word? Handbrake? Dominance and handbrake: they are two different words."

It was not the first time Arteta had made conversative selections that were followed by an inconsistent Arsenal display.

Arteta refused to concede that his line-up may have contributed to the slow start against City.

"I respect everybody's opinion but when I saw everything and I watched it back and all the stats, I was surprised.

"We played Eze on the right-hand side. Could he play 90 minutes? That's a question I put for myself because none of you know the load that he can do.

"So it's easy to say he could have played from the start. Maybe not. Because he already played two games from the start."

Arsenal return to action at third-tier Port Vale in the League Cup third round on Wednesday.

Arteta confirmed that in-form winger Noni Madueke faces a period on the sidelines with a knee injury suffered in the first half against City.

"He's going to be out for a few weeks. We're probably going to have to do a scan again next week," Arteta said.

"It doesn't look too bad. He was gutted, obviously. It is very disappointing to see, he was in such a good state. He looked a real threat so it's a big miss for us."

S.Jones--TFWP