Jamie Carragher has passionately doubled down on his stance that Arsenal’s transfer strategy has switched from technical players to those more physical in an attempt to win the Premier League. He has shed light on the difference in the profile of Mikel Arteta’s more recent signings after falling short in the title race in two successive seasons.
Edu sent shockwaves through the Arsenal fanbase on Monday when it emerged he had suddenly resigned as the club’s sporting director.
The 46-year-old was heavily involved with bringing fellow Spaniard Arteta back to Arsenal as manager after rejoining as technical director in 2019.
Edu, who became sporting director in 2022, has been widely credited for his role in the Gunners’ resurgence in recent years.
But since lifting the FA Cup in his first season after replacing Unai Emery, Arteta hasn’t tasted silverware since, narrowly missing out on a first title since 2004 to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.
Carragher previously raised eyebrows by claiming that Arteta’s recruitment strategy was leaning towards a style more similar to Jose Mourinho than his old tutor, Pep Guardiola.
And he didn’t shy from hammering home his point during Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football.
“Listen, Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho are the two most dominant and successful managers in the last 15 to 20, years,” Carragher explained ahead of Fulham vs Brentford.
“But they’re at both ends of the spectrum in terms of style of football. You look at the players brought in here; what’s the style they’re looking to get? It’s morphing towards Jose Mourinho.
“Now, again, it’s not a criticism of Arsenal or Mikel Arteta. It’s analysis because this is a guy who’s won the Premier League three times. Arsenal haven’t won the Premier League for 20 years, so it’s just where he’s taking them.
“But if you think of Jose Mourinho as a manager, if he took over my club, what would I think I was getting? My first thing would be thinking my team will be strong defensively. No doubt about that.
“Arsenal are strong defensively. [Also] height and strength and power in my team. We just highlighted that about the size and the power of this Arsenal team. That’s what you get from Mourinho. That’s what you’re getting from Arsenal right now.
“Set piece reliance at times, you think how powerful Drogba and John Terry were at Chelsea. That’s exactly the same with Arsenal. They rely on set pieces, especially this side.
“We’ve just highlighted at times, not all the time. Arsenal and the goalkeeper go direct. How often did we see Petr Cech go direct to Didier Drogba, who knocked it down to Frank Lampard?”
Carragher rubbed salt into Arsenal wounds further by admitting that the one aspect of Arteta’s current direction that doesn’t compare with Mourinho is his failure to win trophies.
He continued: “The one thing that we should also say that Arsenal are not like Jose Mourinho is winning trophies. No, if Jose Mourinho is watching tonight and sees that, he will say, ‘but I win trophies.’
“At the moment, Arsenal haven’t won a trophy. They’ve been fantastic. The football they’ve played has been superb, and how they are going about it.
“But anyone who thinks I just plugged this Jose Mourinho thing out to sort of create a negativity around Arsenal… It’s analyzing exactly where Arsenal are going.
“I mean, and if people don’t agree with that, I don’t think you’re actually watching what’s going on with Arsenal right now.
“I think Mikel Arteta feels he doesn’t have the attacking quality that Manchester City have so he’s going another way to try and win the league, which is being strong defensively and a more powerful team.”
Amid a three-match winless run in the Premier League – featuring defeats at AFC Bournemouth and Newcastle United and a draw with title rivals Liverpool – Arsenal are fifth and already seven points adrift from the summit.
