Gary Neville claims Arsenal dressing room won't be happy with divisive Mikel Arteta approach

Gary Neville believes players will start to question Mikel Arteta's tactics IF the Arsenal manager continues to adopt a safety-first approach in big games after again accusing the Spaniard of playing with the handbrake on.

The Gunners snatched a share of the spoils against Manchester City courtesy of a last-gasp Gabriel Martinelli goal in last weekend's 1-1 draw. But the major talking point following the game has centred around Arteta's tactics and team selection after he picked Mikel Merino to play alongside Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi in midfield rather than Eberechi Eze, who teed up Martinelli's late equaliser after coming off the bench.

Neville and his Sky Sports colleague, Jamie Carragher, accused Arteta of playing with the handbrake on after the game, only for Arteta to hit back this week. But Neville has doubled down on his claim and is adamant that Arteta's reluctance to go more attacking in big games will not be lost on his own players, who will have had their own opinions on the team that was picked to face City on Sunday.

READ MORE: Liverpool handed new Marc Guehi headache after U-turn and Arsenal contract agreement

READ MORE: Arsenal injury news and return dates for Newcastle as Mikel Arteta issues Bukayo Saka update

“I don’t think 60,000 or 70,000 fans can be wrong in how they feel and I don’t think any of us who were in the studio or in that stadium can be wrong either,” the Sky Sports pundit said on .

“The big thing for me is the players. He names that team on Friday afternoon or, let’s say, Thursday afternoon in training and he leaves out Eze and he leaves out Martinelli and he puts in Trossard and Merino. I guarantee you that dressing room, straight away, are looking at him and thinking, 'Hmm, you’ve done the same again, you’ve done it at Anfield and a little bit at Old Trafford, but certainly at Anfield'.

“He could have been more attacking at Anfield and he wasn’t and certainly against City from the start he could have been more attacking.”

In response to Neville, Carragher and others who have debated his team selections and tactics, Arteta responded on Tuesday by pointing out that, in his view, Arsenal's philosophy is one of the most attacking in the Premier League.

But Neville is not of the same opinion and he reckons the former Arsenal midfielder could end up regretting his approach if he doesn't go for it more in games after spending big money on new attackers in the summer transfer window.

Neville continued: “He’s going to regret this if he doesn’t start to take the handbrake off. I’m going to repeat the comment 'handbrake' because he’s got players there that need to play in these games.

“You can’t look back at the end of the season and think, 'I’ve lost at Anfield, I’ve dropped points at home against City, I’ve dropped five points now in those two matches and I could have picked a more attacking team', and I think there’s a problem that’s starting to become a pattern for him.”

Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.