Mikel Arteta led Arsenal to a 1-0 win over Spurs this weekend. Former Arsenal forward Theo Walcott says the Gunners’ performance in the North London derby was similar to how a José Mourinho team would play.
A header from Gabriel in the 64th minute was enough to seal all three points away from home. The build up to the goal raised a lot of controversy; with many people claiming it should have been ruled out after Gabriel pushed Romero in the back before getting onto the end of the corner kick.
There was also an incident where Jurrien Timber escaped a second yellow card after an off the pitch scuffle with Spurs goalkeeper Vicario.
Theo Walcott compares Arsenal setup to a Mourinho team
Tottenham had a total of 15 shots on Sunday yet failed to make any of them count. Arsenal had men comfortably behind the ball, and for large parts of the game; Spurs were unable to create anything in front of goal.
Former Arsenal forward Theo Walcott compares how Mikel Arteta set up his team to how José Mourinho use to set up his great Premier League sides:
“It really doesn’t matter how they got it – it was great result for Arsenal,” Walcott said.
“They showed again that they can mix it up, because they played almost like a Jose Mourinho side to see the game out.”
“As a team performance, probably the best comparison I can think of would be when Arsenal drew 0-0 at Manchester City last season,” Walcott said.
“People wanted Arsenal to be more adventurous then, but they played with a system to get that result.”
The Gunners were missing Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard and Riccardo Calafiori but were able to beat a full strength Spurs team.
Structure is Arsenal’s best weapon
Walcott also commended how well drilled this Arsenal team has been since Mikel Arteta took over. The Gunners have only conceded one goal this season, and the goal came when the team was down to 10 men after Declan Rice was sent off.
Walcott believes Arteta’s hands-on coaching is the key behind this resolute Arsenal defence:
“It was exactly the same here, even though they had some important personnel out, they are so well drilled and structured that they showed it doesn’t really matter who plays, because they are all drilled the same way defensively.
“That comes down to the work they do on the training ground. I was lucky enough to watch them in pre-season and the amount of coaching staff who are involved in each session is incredible.
“It makes the players’ lives so much easier when there is that level of detail, with coaches that are literally there for each individual player.
“As a squad, they are getting the same message drilled into them on a daily basis, so I am not surprised anymore when they can grind out a result like this one.”
