'Very similar' - Theo Walcott says two Arsenal stars can't start together after Man City

Theo Walcott questioned Mikel Arteta’s team selection (Picture: BBC)

Theo Walcott believes Mikel Arteta needs to reconsider the balance of his midfield after Arsenal ’s 1-1 draw with Manchester City on Sunday.

Despite dominating possession and territory, the Gunners had to be bailed out by Gabriel Martinelli’s superb injury-time finish to rescue a point at the Emirates.

Pep Guardiola’s side hit the front early through Erling Haaland’s ruthless finish, and were quite happy to sit back and soak up pressure from an Arsenal side that were largely toothless in the final third.

And while the late goal ensured Arsenal didn’t go home empty-handed, the home side still came in for criticism for their safety-first approach.

The midfield three of Martin Zubimendi, Declan Rice and Mikel Merino, in particular, was considered too conservative by many, especially as Merino and Rice have won only one of ten games when starting together in the middle of the park.

But Walcott believes that Zubimedi and Merino – both teammates at club and country level – may actually be proving more problematic for Arteta and should not be started together in Arteta’s midfield.

‘There are a number of players who like to start to play in that position,’ Walcott told Match of the Day when asked about Arsenal’s midfield balance.

Viktor Gyokeres had another frustrating afternoon for Arsenal (Picture: Getty Images)

Mikel Merino lasted just 45 minutes (Picture: Getty Images)

Erling Haaland and Gabriel scrapped it out once again (Picture: Getty Images)

‘Merino isn’t that No10 and I’d like to see someone like Eze up there who is going to be a bit more creative.

‘We’ve got some similar players and you have a lot of players who are left footers as well.

‘Merino and Zubimendi are both that and very similar in that sense and sometimes for me they get in each other’s way. For me, the balance isn’t right.’

Walcott is unsure about Mikel Merino and Martin Zubimendi in midfield (Picture: Getty)

And, like many, Walcott went further with his criticism of Arsenal’s set-up, insisting he was surprised by how long his former side left it before upping the intensity to hunt for an equaliser.

‘My question would be, why did it take until the 90th minute for Arsenal to go on the offensive, why not from the start of the game?’ he added.

‘I’m not normally critical of Arteta, but it feels like he got away with one today. It felt like he admitted he made a mistake with his team selection by making those two subs at half time, while his other substitutions came really late on.’

Arteta, meanwhile, sought to defend his midfield selection, asserting post-match that: ‘I thought it was the best one to start the game. Nobody asked me about the midfield three in Bilbao (where Arsenal won 2-0 in midweek).’

Asked what went into his team selection more generally, the Spaniard added: ‘Well, there are a lot of factors, obviously. The first one is their performance level and the emotional state that they are in. That’s one.

‘After that, it’s what we believe is the best thing in relation to the opponent and the type of game that we predict. And after that, there is as well chemistry and relationships that make each other better and we need to understand it.’