Mikel Arteta’s ‘amateurish’ tactics against Chelsea leave Danny Murphy ‘fearful’ and ‘bemused’ by Arsenal as Simon Jordan claims new signings don’t matter with ‘wrong guy’ in charge

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta failed to rectify his failing tactics against Chelsea in a move which left former Liverpool star Danny Murphy 'fearful' and 'bemused'.

The Gunners only lost 2-0 in a game where they were played off the Emirates pitch by their opponents, leading to supporters booing both at half-time and full-time.

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It could have been a lot worse with Romelu Lukaku tormenting the home defence, who were without unwell £50million summer signing Ben White.

Arsenal managed just six shots and 35 per cent of the possession in the game.

And Murphy revealed he was concerned that Arteta failed to react to his opponents' style and dominance.

"Watching it from a tactical point of view, I was so bemused," he told White and Jordan.

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"They started off okay for eight to 10 minutes, until Chelsea started beating the press.

"There is nothing wrong with starting with the press, but when you play the best team in Europe, in terms of winning the Champions League, there are times when you've got to give them the respect and sit off.

"They beat the press, went a goal up and all of a sudden you're on the back foot.

"They never changed and what they did was they got so stretched, the gap between their defensive unit and the midfielders, at times, who were trying to press - I felt for the two midfielders, by the way, trying to do the job of four or five men - the gaps were so big.

"It became amateurish, tactically, from Arsenal. They were all over the place. They were half-pressing at times and then getting played through, by good players, granted, but then they didn't have the nous to drop off.

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"I was expecting them to come out after half-time and go, 'we're not going to get battered here', and they did react but Chelsea still played through them at times."

He added: "If you're going to press as a unit, the back-four, or five, whatever you play, has to come up with the midfielders and the forwards.

"What I was seeing was the front lads trying to do it and then the back lads getting fearful and dropping, and dropping, and dropping, so there were huge, huge gaps between the midfield and defence at times.

"It was like the last 10 minutes of an FA Cup game.

"You've got Steve Round there. You've got Arteta there, watching this game evolve and then not doing anything about it.

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"It's like having a leak. They weren't putting their fingers in the holes to stop it. They were doing nothing. It was just leaking. It could have been four or five. At one point you were fearful for the scoreline."

Arsenal have made five summer signings and spent the most money of any Premier League side on new recruits, with the fees they've spent so far approaching £130million.

But Simon Jordan believes right now it doesn't matter who the Gunners sign if Arteta doesn't smarten up his act.

He told talkSPORT: "The bigger conundrum for me is the dugout. Have you got the right guy in the dugout?

"All of this narrative about what players they're buying in, who they have got and who they haven't got, and how the squad is rich in young talent, it is great window dressing.

"But if you've got the wrong guy in the dugout, who is all theory and no practice, you can have this scenario."

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