Roy Keane compares Mikel Arteta tactics to four ‘dinosaurs’ of English football

'When Arsenal do it, it’s called ‘brilliant’...'

Sep 27, 2024 - 04:00

Roy Keane compares Mikel Arteta tactics to four ‘dinosaurs’ of English football

Mikel Arteta pictured watching his Arsenal team play a football match — Mikel Arteta’s tactics have been compared to four ‘dinosaurs’ (Picture: Getty)

Roy Keane has compared the tactics of Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta to four ‘dinosaurs’ of English football, including Sam Allardyce and Tony Pulis.

Arteta, who previously worked under Pep Guardiola, has mostly implemented a free-flowing, attractive style of attacking football since he became Arsenal boss.

But many have drawn attention to how Arteta set up his team against Manchester City on Sunday, particularly in the second half, after they went down to 10 men.

The Spaniard almost pulled off a masterclass in park-the-bus defending before John Stones scored in the 98th minute to dramatically break Arsenal hearts.

Some have criticised Arteta for being overly defensive and Keane has now shared his own opinion on The Overlap, brought to you by Sky Bet.

Keane said: ‘If Tony Pulis, Sam Allardyce, Steve Bruce or Neil Warnock set up a team like that [Arsenal at Manchester City] for the second half, they are ‘dinosaurs’. When Arsenal do it, it’s called ‘brilliant’, it’s ‘concentration levels’.

‘When they won the ball back, which they did every now and again, try and look after it and try and get up the pitch.

Tony Pulis pictured working as Stoke City's manager — Tony Pulis managed Stoke City from 2006 until 2013 (Picture: Getty)

‘There was an incident when [Ben] White just kicked it out of play, [Declan] Rice a couple of times, just kicked it up the pitch.

‘This is Arsenal we’re talking about – not a Championship team in the FA Cup – that’s hanging in there.

‘They got a clean sheet last year, so they can get results. I’ve got nothing wrong with them defending and going deep, but when they got it, they didn’t do anything. Martin Ødegaard is a massive loss to Arsenal.’

Former Premier League managers Pulis, Allardyce, Steve Bruce and Neil Warnock are all famed for their defensive approaches.

Pulis is perhaps best known for his two spells in charge of Stoke City, while the other three have managed a number of different clubs in the top-flight.

Allardyce had a brief spell as Leeds United boss in 2023 while Bruce is the current manager of Blackpool in League One and Warnock has now retired.