Gary Neville thinks Mikel Arteta got it wrong with his substitutions against Manchester United on Sunday as Arsenal lost 3-1.
The Gunners made the trip up to Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon in search of a sixth straight win to open the season.
It didn’t quite pan out that way for Arsenal even though they did show plenty of quality in their performance.
Antony’s opener on his Manchester United debut set the Red Devils on their way, only for Bukayo Saka to level it up for Arsenal.
Arsenal really pushed to win it but two Marcus Rashford goals on the counter-attack handed United all three points.
Gary Neville thinks Mikel Arteta got it wrong
Much has been made of Mikel Arteta’s decision to really go for it with some attacking substitutions.
After Rashford had put United back in front at 2-1, Arteta made three substitutions.
Off came Oleksandr Zinchenko, Albert Sambi Lokonga and Martin Odegaard.
On came Eddie Nketiah, Fabio Vieira and Emile Smith Rowe in an attempt to give Arsenal some attacking impetus.
This saw Gabriel Martinelli switch to a very-high-up left back, almost more as a wing back or left-sided midfielder.
Gabriel Jesus came in off the left flank to support Nketiah up top, with Vieira and Smith Rowe joining Granit Xhaka in midfield.
This ultimately left Arsenal a little exposed and Rashford was able to bag another on the break with the Gunners caught very high up the pitch.
Arteta made those substitutions with about 20 minutes to go – including injury time – and yet Rashford took the game away from Arsenal just a couple of minutes later.
Gary Neville seemed concerned for Arsenal immediately after the substitutions were made, telling Sky Sports that Arteta was throwing everything at United by throwing an ‘incredible’ number of attacking players on.
“Mikel Arteta is throwing the kitchen sink at this, the amount of attacking players and options he has on the pitch is incredible,” said Neville.
Sure enough, United scored within a matter of seconds and Neville called Arteta’s decision ‘bold’, questioning whether Arsenal had to be so desperate with over 15 minutes to play.
“I have to say, when Mikel Arteta made those substitutes, I thought it was either going to be a 5-1 or a 3-2 the other way because it just looked so bold. The space that Christian Eriksen has is absolutely incredible, Arsenal… did they need to go so desperate so early?”
When United had another chance on the break but Fred overhit a pass to Cristiano Ronaldo, Neville then noted that Arsenal had lost their shape completely following the triple change.
“Arsenal have just lost all their shape since these substitutions. They were dominating the game, they had the ball, now they’re in disarray at the back,” Neville added.
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