Gary Neville sends clear Mikel Arteta warning over Arsenal tactics

Gary Neville believes Mikel Arteta will live to regret it if he does not utilise more expansive tactics against the Premier League's best teams. The Spaniard came in for criticism for his conservative team selection in the clash against Manchester City.

Mikel Merino, Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi formed a midfield three for Arsenal in Martin Odegaard's absence, with a degree of frustration from many that Eberechi Eze started on the bench. The former Crystal Palace midfielder provided a moment of creativity to supply Gabriel Martinelli, who salvaged a late 1-1 draw for the north London side.

The second period saw Arsenal take more risks. They had looked lacklustre against an unambitious Manchester City side, who took the lead after nine minutes at the Emirates. At the half-time break, Eze and Bukayo Saka were introduced, a move many suggested saw Arteta recognise his initial mistake.

Former Manchester United captain Neville believes Arteta must rectify his approach if Arsenal are to have a chance of winning the Premier League. The Sky Sports pundit has suggested Arteta's selections could negatively impact how his players perceive him.

“I don’t think 70,000 or 60,000 Arsenal fans can be wrong in how they feel, I don’t think any of us that were in that studio, in that stadium or watching from home can be wrong either," Neville said on the Stick to Football podcast.

“The big thing for me is the players, he names that team on Friday afternoon or Thursday afternoon in training and he leaves out Eze and he leaves out Martinelli and he puts in Trossard and Merino. I guarantee you the dressing room straight away will look at him and think ‘you’ve done the same again, you did it at Anfield’.

"A little bit at Old Trafford, but certainly at Anfield, he could have been more attacking and wasn’t and certainly against City, from the start, he could have been more attacking.

“He’s going to regret this if he doesn’t start to take the handbrake off. I’m going to repeat handbrake, because he’s got players there who need to play in these games.

"You can’t look back at the end of the season and go ‘I’ve lost at Anfield, I’ve dropped points at home to Man City, I’ve dropped five points now in those two matches, and I could have picked a more attacking team.”

Even former Arsenal striker Ian Wright acknowledged that Arteta required a different approach given the quality at his disposal. “I didn’t expect to feel a little bit apprehensive as I do now," he said,

"And that is because of his selection for this game, with the games coming up as well. I think he’s got to just let it go and trust the guys to get it done now.

"I’m not sure what else can be done now in respect to the size of the squad he’s got, the quality of his squad. It’s down to him now, he’s got all the pieces."

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