Former Arsenal winger Theo Walcott had to change his top-four predictions after seeing Gunner tie Man City 1-1 on Sunday.
Mikel Arteta fired a careful lineup against citizens, Ebebeki Eze and Gabriel Martinelli, starting on the bench.
Erling Haaland put Pep Guardiola’s side first early in the game, taking Arsenal winger Martinelli to grab the equalizer in the second half injury time.
Walcott analyses the Arsenal and Man City Sunday contest and is called US overlap football. Honestly, when I saw the starting lineup, I was a bit disappointed with people like Martinelli and Eze.
“Obviously (Leandro) Trossard scored (against Athletic Bilbao), but I felt that this game needed a different kind of player.
“When I saw both fullback sets, I felt that there was one fullback in the game being Timber and that was a real place to win.
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“That being said, when you pay that much to a particular player, it’s creative and when it comes to that finisher or game changer, for me, you take these players out of the risk of unleashing their defenses in different ways, so you have to start these players.
“That’s the problem, that’s what Arsenal doesn’t do in these big games at this point.
“They want to stay with it. I understand that. But every time Arsenal picks up their strength, the team feels they’re struggling. They can’t deal with them.”
Walcott added:
“It takes up to 90 minutes. When the fourth official sets up the timer, fans spent an hour and a half to win the game, ‘Oh, my god, I have 7 minutes left!’…! ”
Walcott considers Man City “Beatable” and believes Arteta should have recognized it before launching a conservative lineup on Sunday.
The former Arsenal star continued.
“Manchester City is not the Manchester City they have been around for the past few years, and that is very clear.
“The Liverpool games were different at Anfield, but I understand that, but I could afford to take those risks at home and they were limited to me.”
When asked if Arsenal thought Arteta’s current approach would allow him to win the Premier League title, Walcott replied.
“However, the dynamics of Arteta as an alternative must be changed.
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“Manchester City took off Haaland and took off (Phil) Foden. Just (Jeremy) Doc has no offensive threat. It took me a while to respond to why you (Arsenal) didn’t pose an offensive threat.
“It’s about responding to the opposition. He obviously switched between Martinelli and (Bukayo) Saka, but this year, the game they drew last year, they’re not going to draw them.
“I think the difference between these games is especially Viktor Gyokeres. I know he’s not illuminating the world yet, but I think it’s a game where they need center forwards who take up center backs in a different way.
“That’s my point. I don’t think they’re going to portray that many people. In a big game, they can afford to drop points.”
In pre-season predictions, Walcott revealed:
When asked if Arsenal was a title favourite for him, he replied.
“They said they’re a little more competitive, they’re going to lead the table for a long time and are more equipped to win the Champions League, and that’s how I see it.”
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