Theo Walcott has said Arsenal “played almost like a Jose Mourinho team” to keep Tottenham at bay in the closing stages of Sunday’s north London derby against Tottenham.
Gabriel scored what turned out to be the only goal of the match in the 64th minute with a stunning header that once again exposed Tottenham’s weaknesses at set-pieces.
However, Mikel Arteta’s side conceded the majority of possession as Tottenham enjoyed 64 per cent of the ball during the match.
The Gunners’ possession stats dropped noticeably after Gabriel’s goal to just 32.2 per cent, emphasising the need to defend and repel waves of desperate Tottenham attacks.
Walcott, who made almost 400 appearances for Arsenal during his 11-year tenure, immediately drew parallels between his former side’s style towards the end and the legendary Portuguese manager.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta guided his side to a convincing 1-0 win over Tottenham on Sunday
Gunners great Theo Walcott has compared Arsenal’s approach to that of a team coached by Jose Mourinho
Mourinho has his teams well-drilled and capable of functioning for long periods without the ball.
“It doesn’t really matter how they got it, it was a great result for Arsenal,” Walcott told Match of the Day.
‘They showed once again that they can mix things up, because they played almost like a José Mourinho team until the end of the match.’
Walcott also pointed out that Arsenal employed a similar mentality during their trip to the Etihad Stadium last season, when they drew 0-0 with Manchester City.
Although it was not an entertaining game, Walcott acknowledged Arteta’s side might not have gotten the result if they had been more “adventurous” in their style.
What made the result even more impressive was that Arteta had to go into the game without two of his first-choice midfielders, Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard, who missed the derby through suspension and injury respectively.
Despite the loss of the duo, Walcott believed Arteta’s defensive structure was so ingrained in his team that it didn’t matter who had to step up and replace them.
“It was exactly the same (as with Manchester City) here, even though they had some important players out, they are so well coached and structured that they showed that it doesn’t really matter who plays, because everyone is coached the same way defensively,” Walcott said.
“That’s down to the work they do on the training pitch. I was lucky enough to see them in pre-season and the amount of technical staff involved in each session is incredible.
Arsenal conceded the battle for possession but rarely looked troubled by Tottenham’s attacks.
Arteta will welcome Declan Rice back for Sunday’s away game against Manchester City
“Players’ lives are much easier when there is that level of detail, with coaches who are literally there for each individual player.
“As a team, they get the same message every day, so it doesn’t surprise me anymore when they manage to get a result like this.”
Arsenal may need to revive that Mourinho style that Walcott referenced on Sunday once again when they face City at the Etihad.
However, Arteta will be able to count on Rice once again as his suspension was only one game.
But before the Gunners turn their attention to City, they travel to Bergamo to face Atalanta in their Champions League opener on Thursday.
