Gary Neville takes another swipe at Mikel Arteta and urges him to end Arsenal ‘experiment’ for Man Utd showdown

GARY NEVILLE has taken aim at Mikel Arteta once again as he offers the Arsenal manager his advice ahead of their clash with Manchester United this weekend.

Arteta’s side have come under some scrutiny following their 2-2 draw at home against Fulham on Saturday.

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Gary Neville has told Mikel Arteta what he thinks of his tactics and urged him to change them before Arsenal’s game against Man Utd on Sunday[/caption]

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Arteta has been trying a new formation with Arsenal this season[/caption]

The Gunners have been playing a back four which sees central midfielder Thomas Partey play at right-back as well as stepping into central areas when required.

And Neville seems to think that it’s not working after watching Joao Palhinha bag a late equaliser for a ten-man Fulham at the Emirates at the weekend.

Speaking on the Sky Sports podcast, he said: “I would say that for me, looking at Arsenal, there is an element of experimentation and this expectation that full-backs think they can play midfield and midfielders think they can play at full-back.

“Thomas Partey is playing half-and-half in a game and sometimes there is an element that you need to go back to basics.

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Arsenal dropped points at the weekend in a 2-2 draw at home to Fulham[/caption]

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Joao Palhinha scored a late equaliser to snatch a point for the Cottagers on the road[/caption]

“I would expect next week that Arteta is going to end that experiment and probably go with a solid back four with four defenders.”

Arsenal face the tough task of hosting Man United on Sunday in their first real test of the season.

And Neville has warned that Arteta must change his formation if he wants to beat United as it’s not working at present.

“Balancing a team is very important.” He explained. “Innovation is fantastic, we love seeing new things, but sometimes something that started as a good idea evolves into something that, to be fair, just doesn’t work.

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“I feel there is that with Arsenal. Next week, I’d expect them to go back to something that resembles the team that played last season and get back to those basics of what they are – which is a 4-3-3 team.”

It’s not the first time that the former Man United full-back has come out and disagreed with Arteta’s ideas.

Most recently he blasted the decision for the Gunners’ boss to bring in David Raya in order to compete with Aaron Ramsdale.

The North London side will play host to Neville’s old side this weekend and may need to listen to his advice if they’re to get back on track with a win.

Although the Manchester giants have had a hard start to the campaign themselves with their performances being below expectations.

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