{"id":1211,"date":"2026-04-01T05:18:05","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T05:18:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/?p=1211"},"modified":"2026-04-01T05:18:05","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T05:18:05","slug":"rio-ferdinand-claims-mikel-arteta-has-copied-man-utd-tactic-to-win-the-title-for-arsenal-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/?p=1211","title":{"rendered":"Rio Ferdinand claims Mikel Arteta has copied Man Utd tactic to win the title for Arsenal | Football"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Rio Ferdinand was pressured into dropping out of England squads by Sir Alex Ferguson (Picture: Rio Ferdinand Presents)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rio Ferdinand insists Mikel Arteta cannot be blamed for delving into Sir Alex Ferguson\u2019s Premier League title-winning playbook in a bit to help Arsenal get over the line.<\/p>\n

The Gunners are odds-on favourites to be crowned domestic champions for the first time in 22 years having opened up a nine-point lead over Manchester City.<\/p>\n

Arteta\u2019s side still have to go to the Etihad next month and have played a game more than the side who laid down something of a marker at Wembley 10 days ago when they claimed the Carabao Cup following a convincing 2-0 wi over an under-par Arsenal. <\/p>\n

The international break may have come at a timely period for Arteta and he will no doubt have been relieved to see a clutch of his most important players opt out of playing for their countries. <\/p>\n

Eberechi Eze, who missed the League Cup final defeat, is unlikely to return in time for Saturday\u2019s FA Cup tie against Southampton but there is a suspicion that the majority of the walking wounded will be available for selection. <\/p>\n

Arsenal and the various drop outs have received an avalanche of criticism for abandoning their countries so close to this summer\u2019s World Cup but Ferdinand is sympathetic to their current predicament. <\/p>\n

He told his YouTube channel: \u2018Mikel Arteta has worked his magic and told them if anyone plays or anyone goes you\u2019re getting fined and they\u2019ve all dropped out.\u2019<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\"Arsenal\t<\/div>
Bukayo Saka dropped out of the England squad last week (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Asked if Arsenal fans should be worried by the spate of supposed injuries, he added: \u2018No. They\u2019ll all be available for selection, bar one or two. <\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s definitely the manager saying listen this is the first win we could get in terms of the Premier League, we have to be ready, we need your energy, this is a friendly for your national team. <\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019ve heard this speech from Sir Alex Ferguson so I understand it. The guys have just gone this is our priority we need to win the league.\u2019<\/p>\n

Ferdinand admitted the scenario is not dissimilar to the one he faced as a player when Sir Alex Ferguson would regularly pressure his best players into putting club before country. <\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\"Soccer\t<\/div>
Rio Ferdinand was pressured into missing England games by Sir Alex Ferguson (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018The game\u2019s finished we\u2019ve won the game before we go away with our national team and he\u2019ll be in there going \u2018we\u2019ve got a big game in 10 days and that\u2019s just a friendly, I don\u2019t want to see anyone playing more than 45 minutes. I don\u2019t care what you have to do to get out of it you can\u2019t play more than 45\u2019. <\/p>\n

\u2018There\u2019d be other players like Wazza and that when they\u2019ve been playing so many games, the matchwinners who need protecting a bit more. <\/p>\n

\u2018Cristiano as well, players like that, he\u2019d be going to them privately you\u2019ve got to pull out of this one, we can\u2019t have you getting injured. <\/p>\n

\u2018He\u2019s protecting his interest which is Manchester United and he\u2019s Scottish so he\u2019s not got one care in the world for England.\u2019<\/p>\n

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Thomas Tuchel, meanwhile, knows Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka\u2019s England withdrawals amid a spate of Arsenal pullouts may look fishy to some but stressed the injured duo were desperate to feature against Japan.<\/p>\n

The German coach picked an expanded 35-man squad for the final camp before he makes his World Cup selection, with the first wave of players joined by 11 established names on Friday.<\/p>\n

Rice and Saka were among those arrivals and surprisingly left the following day, as did Arsenal team-mate Noni Madueke after he sustained an injury in the 1-1 friendly draw against Uruguay.<\/p>\n

The fact 10 of the Premier League leaders\u2019 players have left their respective national teams has raised suspicions of club matters taking precedence over country, but Tuchel dismissed such talk.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\"England\t<\/div>
Declan Rice has pulled out of the England squad (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018They joined, had a medical assessment, wanted desperately to play, to just get the narrative straight,\u2019 he said ahead of Tuesday\u2019s friendly against Japan. \u2018Wanted desperately to be involved.<\/p>\n

\u2018But it made just no sense to take this risk. If it would have been maybe a last game of the season, we would have kept them and tried everything. But in this moment of the season, it did not make sense.<\/p>\n

\u2018The risk for making it worse was just way too big.\u2019<\/p>\n

Tuchel, who says England were aware of the pair\u2019s \u2018issues\u2019 after Arsenal\u2019s Carabao Cup final, added: \u2018I understand the look of it.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\"England's\t<\/div>
Noni Madueke pulled out of the England squad after he was injured playing against Uruguay (Picture: AFP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018I still have 100 per cent trust in the honesty of Bukayo and Declan. We did medical tests. I saw them.<\/p>\n

\u2018I have no reason to believe that Declan is not honest with me. I have no reason to believe Bukayo is not honest. But given the amount of Arsenal players, I understand the look.\u2019<\/p>\n

Rice, who Tuchel says feels 70 per cent fit, had a session with Jude Bellingham on the pitch but complained of discomfort, while Saka did two sessions in the gym in a bid to prove his fitness.<\/p>\n

\u2018They both came,\u2019 he said. \u2018Declan was even out on the pitch. He did not come and say \u2018guys, I\u2019m going home\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u2018I heard there were camps (in the past) where players did not even show up with boots and stuff. Then it becomes, OK\u2026but they both came.\u2019<\/p>\n

Arrow<\/title>\n<\/svg>MORE: Arsenal make Riccardo Calafiori transfer decision as two clubs target \u00a342m star<\/span><\/p>\n

Arrow<\/title>\n<\/svg>MORE: Paul Merson says key Chelsea star is being \u2018wasted\u2019 by Liam Rosenior<\/span><\/p>\n

Arrow<\/title>\n<\/svg>MORE: Man Utd legend Rio Ferdinand sends message to Roberto De Zerbi over Tottenham job offer<\/span><\/p>\n

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Rio Ferdinand was pressured into dropping out of England squads by Sir Alex Ferguson (Picture: Rio Ferdinand Presents) Rio Ferdinand insists Mikel Arteta cannot be blamed for delving into Sir Alex Ferguson\u2019s Premier League title-winning playbook in a bit to help Arsenal get over the line. The Gunners are odds-on favourites to be crowned domestic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1212,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1211"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1211\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}