Jamie Carragher has found a way to annoy Arsenal fans again.
Some of the punditry these days is almost as bad as the standard of refereeing in the Premier League. It’s almost like people say something just for the sake of it.
Carragher faced the wrath of Arsenal fans recently for comparing Mikel Arteta to former Chelsea and Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho. On Monday night, the Liverpool legend decided that it would be a good idea to do it again.
On Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football, Carragher claimed that Arteta is trying to take the Mourinho approach in order to win the Premier League – defensive solidity, height, strength and power across the side and reliance on set-pieces.
“It’s not a criticism for Arsenal or Mikel Arteta, it’s analysis,” he added, but we think he should’ve given his analysis a bit more thought as it makes no sense.
Arsenal supporters, as you would expect, are not happy with Carragher’s comments.
Arsenal fans slam Jamie Carragher for comparing Mikel Arteta to Jose Mourinho again
Just picking out a few of Arteta’s ideas, highlighting them and then comparing him to Mourinho is just lazy analysis, and this isn’t the first time Carragher has done that.
Arsenal fans were annoyed when he did it the last time, and that irritation has now gone up even more.
One Arsenal fan said: “Remember, this is the same Jamie Carragher, who said in 22/23 we played more like Liverpool (when it was actually City), and 23/24 we played more like City. Now we’re suddenly playing like a Jose Mourinho team (that doesn’t like counter-attacks, but presses very high?)”
Another wrote: “What a load of nonsense and lazy analysis.”
“The lack of genuine insight is astonishing,” said another Arsenal fan. “You disregard all nuance and simplify tactics to one of a handful of managers in world football.”
Another tweeted: “This is complete nonsense. Arsenal don’t even play transitional football, Arteta controls games and stops counterattacks by choking teams out.”
“Extremely disingenuous to pluck out certain stats over a whole season versus the first 10 games of the next. Especially considering Arsenal have been away to Aston Villa, Spurs, Manchester City and Newcastle in those first 10,” said another.
Carragher’s ‘analysis’ is lazy – here’s why
Football fans who don’t watch Arsenal every week will be the only ones who will agree with Carragher, but the fact of the matter is that his analysis is lazy and just wrong.
One argument that Carragher makes to compare Arteta and Mourinho is that Arsenal have a very solid defence – every title-winning team needs to have a solid backline, so he’s wrong there.
Then, Carragher argues that Arteta only likes to sign players with ‘height, strength and power’ because that’s what Mourinho used to do.
That’s a silly claim too because the famous Arsenal Invincibles team was filled with tall, strong and powerful players. Mourinho hadn’t even come to England when Arsene Wenger assembled that team – does that mean the Special One copied Wenger?
Those who watch Arsenal every week and can analyse correctly will tell you that Arteta’s team is far more proactive out of possession than Mourinho’s sides ever were.
The Special One sacrificed territory on the pitch by sitting back and parking the bus, while Arteta makes his team squeeze the opposition with his press in order to dominate the pitch.
We’re sure Arteta looks up to Mourinho, but to say that the Gunners boss is just like him is beyond ridiculous. Carragher should do better.
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