Former Arsenal winger Theo Walcott has had to alter his top-four prediction after watching the Gunners draw 1-1 against Man City on Sunday.
Mikel Arteta came under fire for his cautious line-up against the Citizens with Eberechi Eze and Gabriel Martinelli starting on the bench.
Erling Haaland put Pep Guardiola’s side ahead early on in the game and it took for Arsenal winger Martinelli to come on to grab the equaliser in second-half injury time.
Analysing Sunday’s contest between Arsenal and Man City, Walcott told the US Overlap’s It’s Called Soccer: “To be honest, when I looked at the starting line-up I was a bit disappointed for the likes of Martinelli and Eze.
“Obviously [Leandro] Trossard scored [against Athletic Bilbao], however, I just felt like this game needed a different kind of player.
“When you look at both sets of full-backs, there was one full-back in play in the game which was Timber and I felt that’s where it was really won.
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“Having said that, it’s just disappointing, when you pay that much money on a certain player, that is going to be creative and be that finisher or game-changer, for me, you have to start these players because they’re the ones that will take the risks that will unlock defences in a different way.
“That’s the problem. That’s what Arsenal don’t do in these big games at this moment in time.
“They want to stay in it and I understand that, I get that. However, I just feel that every time Arsenal pick up their intensity, teams struggle. They can’t cope with them.”
Walcott added: “Why would you not do that from the start? That’s the frustration from the fan side of things because it’s in the players.
“It takes them until the 90th minute. When the fourth official puts up the timer, it’s like the fans forget, “Oh my god, we’ve got seven minutes left!”… you just had an hour and a half to win the game!”
Walcott sees Man City as “beatable” and reckons Arteta should have recognised that before he put out a conservative line-up on Sunday.
The former Arsenal star continued: “I feel like deep down, if you really isolate the situation, I think he made an error in the starting line-up.
“Manchester City aren’t the Manchester City they have been in previous years, that’s really clear to see. They’re beatable.
“The Liverpool game was different at Anfield, I understand that, but at home you can afford to take those risks and they were limited to me.”
When asked if he thinks Arsenal can win the Premier League title with Arteta’s current approach, Walcott responded: “I do [think Arsenal can win the league].
“The dynamic needs to change of when Arteta makes the substitutions, though.
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“Manchester City took off Haaland, took off [Phil] Foden. There’s no attacking threat with just [Jeremy] Doku. Why would you [Arsenal] not bring on some more attacking threat and it took a bit of time to react.
“It’s about reacting to the opposition. He obviously switched Martinelli and [Bukayo] Saka around, but I feel like this year, the games they drew last year, they aren’t going to draw those.
“I think the difference for those games particularly is Viktor Gyokeres. I know he hasn’t set the world alight yet, but I just think they’re the kind of games that they need that centre-forward who is going to occupy the centre-backs in a different way.
“That’s my take on it, I just don’t think they’re going to draw as many. In the big games they can afford to drop points.”
On his pre-season predictions, Walcott revealed: “I had Arsenal third but that was before the transfer window stuff, wasn’t it?”
When asked if Arsenal were now title favourites for him, he replied: “No, I’d put them second. They’re creeping up!
“I said they’re going to be a bit more competitive and they’re going to lead the table for a long period of time and they’re more equipped to win the Champions League. That’s how I see it.”
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