Jason Cundy has insisted that he is not going to criticise Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta for being overtly negative against Manchester City last weekend.
Arsenal’s dark arts have already hogged the limelight since their 2-2 draw against Manchester City at the Etihad on Sunday.
Criticism has been levelled against the way Arsenal used cynical tactics to waste time and use David Raya tactically to disrupt the game or find a way to get their players a breather.
Roy Keane piled on the criticism on the Gunners this week when he insisted Arsenal showed a small team mentality by trying to do nothing but defend in the second half at the Etihad.
The former Manchester United captain refused to consider that it was a special circumstance as the Gunners were up against Manchester City. He pointed out that they did the same against Brighton earlier in the season.
However, Arteta has found an ally in Cundy who defended what the Arsenal boss did at the Etihad to walk away with a point.
Arsenal do defend well and Arteta went with his team’s strength
The former Chelsea man insisted that he is not keen to criticise Arteta for adopting ultra-defensive tactics against Manchester City in the second half.
He pointed out that Arsenal’s strength is in the way they defend and the manager went with what he thought was the best way to get a result at the Etihad.
Cundy also stressed that the Gunners boss had little time to think about what he could do due to the timing of Leandro Trossard’s red card, so taking off Bukayo Saka and going ultra-defensive was his best bet.
“I am not going to criticise Arteta for doing what he did because he knows their biggest strength is not conceding”, he said on talkSPORT.
“City’s strength is going and attacking teams so had it been the other way around, I don’t think Pep would have done it because he knows he can outscore teams.
“Even on a bad day, they could still get the rub of the green because they have got so much creativity and goals in them.
“I am no Arsenal fan but we have got to give Arteta some credit because he got very little time – think about when the red card was, think about the player and there were a lot of things going through his mind.
“I thought Saka had one of his quieter games so I get why he was taken off and therefore, you are taking off an attacking player and one of your best.
“They nearly were [good enough].”
