Walcott Calls on Arteta to Show Greater Decisiveness Following Arsenal’s Loss to Liverpool

Former Arsenal forward Theo Walcott has criticized manager Mikel Arteta’s tactical approach, arguing that the Gunners boss relies too heavily on instinct instead of making bold decisions.

Walcott’s remarks came after Arsenal’s 1-0 loss to Liverpool at Anfield, where summer signing Eberechi Eze was left on the bench until the second half.

“The club have really backed Arteta and now he has options everywhere, but he likes to go back to his instinct of ‘we need to stay in the game,’” Walcott said on the It’s Called Soccer podcast.

“It was working up to a certain point but that is where you bring on the substitutions a little bit earlier – [Eberechi] Eze did so much more with his first two touches than [Gabriel] Martinelli did.

“I said it a couple of weeks ago when Jack Grealish arrived at Everton and he started the first game on the bench – play them straight away.”

Eze joined Arsenal late in the summer transfer window and is still awaiting his first start in the red and white jersey.