Former Arsenal forward Theo Walcott has slammed Mikel Arteta’s tactical approach, claiming the Gunners boss relies too heavily on instinct rather than making bold decisions.
Walcott made the comment following Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield, where summer signing Eberechi Eze was left on the bench until the second half.
“The club have really backed Arteta and now he has options everywhere, but he likes to go back to his instinct of ‘we need to stay in the game’,” Walcott said on the It’s Called Soccer podcast.
“It was working up to a certain point but that is where you bring on the substitutions a little bit earlier – [Eberechi] Eze did so much more with his first two touches than [Gabriel] Martinelli did.
“I said it a couple of weeks ago when Jack Grealish arrived at Everton and he started the first game on the bench – play them straight away.”
Recall Eze joined Arsenal just before the end of the summer window, awaiting to make his first start donning the red and white jersey.