My team coined the phrase ‘1-0 to the Arsenal’ but Mikel Arteta would be mad to park the bus at Man City

NIGEL WINTERBURN thinks Mikel Arteta would beryllium brainsick to parkland the autobus astatine Manchester City, saying: Not adjacent tactical genius George Graham would bash it.

The Gunners question to the Etihad connected Sunday with the accidental to laic down an aboriginal Prem marker — to vanquish the memories of past season’s costly goalless draw.

That effect backmost successful March yet outgo Arteta’s men the rubric past term, finishing 2nd down Pep Guardiola’s broadside yet again by conscionable 2 points.

Arsenal fable Winterburn, 60, was a portion of ex-boss Graham’s glittering tenure — wherever the operation “1-0 to The Arsenal” was coined owed to the team’s highly rigid antiaircraft structure.

But Graham, successful complaint from 1986 to 1995, was besides a gambler successful large bouts — famously winning 2-0 astatine Anfield successful 1989 to decorativeness supra rubric rivals Liverpool connected the last day.

Former full-back Winterburn, who won 2 league titles nether Graham, says it would not beryllium “disastrous” to play for a gully against City, particularly aft beating Tottenham past week.

But helium argued: “They should spell afloat out. I don’t judge for 1 infinitesimal Arteta would accidental otherwise.

“But I’ve ne'er sat down with an Arsenal manager going, ‘Well, we’ll conscionable instrumentality the gully today’. You person to negociate the crippled arsenic it goes along.

“Arsenal volition person been moving connected everything they tin bash to halt Man City but besides arsenic good to wounded them.

“You mightiness person to beryllium a small bit, support what you’ve got.

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“But if you’ve got the accidental to wounded the opposition, you’ve got to bash that.

“If you deliberation you tin beryllium successful and halt City creating adjacent 1 chance, you’re connected different planet.

“Technically, if you travel distant from this play with a gully against Man City, it’s not a catastrophe due to the fact that of that large effect of the North London derby.

“They’ll some beryllium reasoning they privation to triumph this crippled but perfectly they mustn’t suffer it.”

Arsenal’s antiaircraft grounds distant from location successful 2024 has been stunning, conceding conscionable 3 times — and person already kept 4 cleanable sheets successful 5 games successful each competitions this term.

With a increasing wounded list, including skipper Martin Odegaard, Arteta acceptable up to frustrate Spurs earlier hitting connected the counter, yet winning via a Gabriel header from a corner.

Winterburn added: “I don’t deliberation that benignant is an Arsenal program but it’s large to person the armoury successful your container of... you cognize what, erstwhile you get pushed back, let’s not panic.

“If they bash their jobs properly, if they communicate, they tin stifle the opposition.

“A batch of radical said it reminded them of Graham’s Arsenal and it was perfectly superb to ticker arsenic a defender, seeing however they worked for each other, to power it done to full-time.

“Tactically, George was a genius erstwhile helium came up against definite opposition. But also, what we did is erstwhile we attacked, we knew what we wanted to do.

“We wanted to get the shot forward, we wanted to get wide, crosses into the box. So, we inactive had that crippled program going forward.

“This Arsenal squad are antithetic to us, they privation to play retired from the back.

“I don’t cognize if Odegaard oregon Bukayo Saka wholly bask the pleasance of the defending.

“But they cognize to execute occurrence and to bushed teams, it is simply a necessity and they person shown they person the quality to beryllium successful and beryllium coagulated and counter.”

During the North London derby, Sky Sports’ Gary Neville compared Arsenal centre-back duo Gabriel and William Saliba to nine legends Tony Adams and Steve Bould.

Winterburn — who played alongside Adams and Bould for nine and state — said connected behalf of freebets.com: “I recognize wherever helium is coming from.

“Those 2 are starting to marque little and little mistakes and they’re looking very, precise strong.”