Invoking the name of Jose Mourinho is always likely to raise the hackles of Arsenal fans.
The former Chelsea and Manchester United manager is persona non grata at the Emirates Stadium, particularly after his heated rivalry with Arsenal’s own Arsene Wenger.
At one time, Mourinho and Wenger were held up as ideological opposites — two extreme ends of the coaching spectrum — so it was intriguing to hear pundit Jamie Carragher mention the current Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, in the same breath as Mourinho after Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Liverpool.
“I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, probably going back to this fixture last year,” Carragher said on Sky Sports.
“Because Mikel Arteta worked with Pep, we all think he is a Pep Guardiola disciple. If you look at the two most successful managers in the last 10-15 years you’ve got Pep on one end and Jose — almost equally successful — at the other end.
“Mikel Arteta is slowly morphing into a Jose Mourinho type of manager.”
At his press conference on Tuesday, Arteta said it was for others to make such comparisons, but he did admit that Mourinho has been an influence in his football journey.
“For sure,” he said. “I’ve known him since I was 15 years old. He coached me. He was in Barcelona. Yeah, he’s won — I don’t know, 26, 28 titles? So he’s someone to really admire, the way he’s done it, the way he’s changed the culture in clubs, the way he’s done it in different countries.”
Carragher’s assessment is part of a wider emerging narrative concerning Arteta’s perceived cautiousness — a tendency to lean back on defence rather than towards attack.
“They were 2-1 up, pressing Liverpool, on top and playing really well but they retreated in the second half,” explained Carragher. “I know they had a couple of injuries at the back but they’d still got the midfield players and some attackers who you think you can get on the ball and go forward and try to take the sting out of the pressure you’re under. That instinct to protect comes from the manager but it happens too often.
“What they did (at the Emirates Stadium against) Brighton, what they did against Bournemouth… The top teams, when they go down to 10 men: yeah, you are under pressure but you relieve it; you keep the ball a bit more and you’re still a threat going forward.”
The mention of Arsenal being down to 10 men lands on an important aspect of this discussion: context. Arsenal have still played only nine Premier League games. In three of them, they have found themselves a man down — in two, that happened before half-time.
Arsenal have already faced challenging away trips to Aston Villa, Tottenham and Manchester City, and dealt with a number of injuries and suspensions. They have had games this season when they’ve dug in and run down the clock, but there are fairly straightforward explanations as to why.
Nevertheless, Arsenal are increasingly being characterised as a team who sit in and defend when in front. High-profile games like the matches at the Etihad have helped reinforce that idea to the wider football consciousness — but it’s not a true reflection of the manner in which Arteta’s team typically play.
Arsenal have an excellent back four, but the reason their goal was so well protected throughout 2023-24 is that Arteta’s team dominated possession and territory. They suffocated the opposition all across the pitch. This is not a team without attacking intent: Liverpool’s equaliser on Sunday came from a transition moment as Arsenal went in search of a third goal.
Perhaps we simply haven’t seen Arsenal’s intended style in action yet. Primary playmaker Martin Odegaard has played just three Premier League games, and the only stylistically similar alternative in the squad is 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri. With circumstances conspiring against Arteta, he may simply not have been able to put his plans into action thus far.
That’s not to say there’s nothing in Carragher’s observation. The Mourinho comparison is the latest in a line of parallels drawn to more managers who placed significant emphasis on defence. Arsenal fans say with affection that he has a touch of George Graham. Others have pointed out that much of Arteta’s playing career was spent under David Moyes.
While easy comparisons have been made between apprentice Arteta and mentor Guardiola, the Arsenal manager draws on a wider variety of influences. This is a manager who played in four countries and has spent the vast majority of his football career in Britain. City staff remarked after the draw earlier this season that Arteta has departed some way from Guardiola’s principles. Perhaps they shouldn’t have been so surprised.
A manager tells you where their priorities lie by how they spend their money. In a summer in which most of the football world expected Arsenal to sign a centre-forward, their first new addition was in fact a left-back. With Emile Smith Rowe and Fabio Vieira allowed to go, many thought Arsenal would opt for a similarly creative midfielder.
Instead, Arsenal went for the structure and power offered by Mikel Merino. It’s an antithesis to the Wenger years, when fans pleaded with the manager to sign a centre-half or defensive midfielder, only for him to recruit another diminutive playmaker.
There are undoubtedly parallels between Arteta and Mourinho: a predilection towards height and physicality, a gift for organisation and communication, and a willingness to exploit every possible margin to win.
“This is not a criticism, this is an observation,” insisted Carragher. Yet it’s difficult to avoid the idea that allusions to Mourinho are pejorative. Certainly, many Arsenal fans will take it as such. Younger supporters don’t remember the iconic Graham teams, and were reared on Wenger. The Frenchman made attractive football one of the core pillars of the club’s evolving identity.
“This idea that Arsenal play great football and he is a Pep Guardiola man, he is not,” continued Carragher. “Just look at the players going down today, the secrecy before the game about who was fit and who wasn’t. It’s all out of the Jose Mourinho playbook.” Even if it isn’t intended as criticism, it certainly doesn’t feel like praise.
Such is Arteta and Arsenal’s lot at the moment. They are at an awkward point in their trajectory. They no longer carry any kind of underdog status. They are a big club, they have spent significant money, and they are subject to new levels of scrutiny and analysis — but they are yet to win the big prizes. Until they do, this kind of critique is inevitable.
Arsenal’s manager is unmoved.
“I don’t like comparing myself to anybody, because I’m myself,” says Arteta. “I don’t do things because other people have done them, I do things that I believe are the best things for the players and the team to get us success and play the way we want to play.”
(Top photo: Alex Pantling – UEFA via Getty Images)
