Merson urges Arteta to abandon his playing philosophy when required | OneFootball

Paul Merson has urged Mikel Arteta to alter his team’s style of play in some games just to get the desired result.

Arsenal is in an important part of a season that has promised a return to Champions League football in recent weeks.

Tottenham beat them 3-0 in their last game and the Lilywhites have just beaten Burnley to lead the Gunners by two points on the league table.

This means Arsenal must beat Newcastle United in their game tomorrow to return to fourth place, but they could have been in a better position if they didn’t lose to Spurs.

Merson believes they could have won that game if they altered their approach and he says Arteta needs to be tactically more flexible.

He tells Sky Sports: “He’s supposed to be a top-drawer manager. We all know Tottenham are one of the best teams in the world at counter-attacking football. They’ve drawn with Liverpool twice and done the double over Manchester City. Why don’t they play that way [like Brighton did in North London]? Why do you have to go out with this ‘we’re going to play the right way, this is the way football is played’.”

Just Arsenal Opinion

It is in games like the match against Spurs that managers earn their money and Arteta failed to inspire his team to victory.

However, now is not the time to cry about the points we have lost and we need to focus on the remaining games of the season.

If we beat our next two opponents, we will play in the Champions League next season and no one will talk about the North London derby defeat.