Jamie O'Hara has taken aim at Mikel Arteta by declaring that he's not one of the top managers in world football. In fact, O'Hara even named 15 bosses who he believes are better than the Arsenal boss.
The ex-Tottenham star is a host on talkSPORT and regularly takes aim at their north London rivals even though they've enjoyed an excellent start to the new season.
The Gunners are currently top of the Premier League with six wins from eight games so far, while they've also won all three of their League Phase Champions League fixtures so far without conceding a single goal. However, for O'Hara, that's not enough to be regarded as one of world football's elite bosses.
Mikel Arteta 'Not One of the World's Best' Managers
mikel arteta-1
Fresh from seeing Arsenal secure a 4-0 victory over Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday night. "He's not a top ten manager in the world for me," O'Hara said.
"Not to say that he can't be, but you can't put him in the top ten managers in the world."
O'Hara then went on to name 15 managers in world football who he would rate higher than the Arsenal boss on social media. Among the names ranked higher than Arteta are Diego Simeone, a manager whom Arteta just beat 4-0, along with four Premier League managers: Pep Guardiola, Arne Slot, Enzo Maresca, and Unai Emery, as well as England boss Thomas Tuchel.
15 Managers Better than Mikel Arteta - According to Jamie O'Hara's
Hansi Flick
Pep Guardiola
Arne Slot
Xabi Alonso
Diego Simeone
Antonio Conte
Luis Enrique
Carlo Ancelotti
Simone Inzaghi
Thomas Tuchel
Didier Deschamps
Luis de la Fuente
Lionel Scaloni
Enzo Maresca
Unai Emery
Arsenal 'Have Killed the Premier League' - O'Hara
mikel arteta's arsenal
In a separate conversation about Arsenal with Sky Sports News, O'Hara suggested that it was the Gunners' style of play which doesn't just stop Arteta from being a top coach, but may even be ruining football altogether.
"I can’t stand it, I hate it. It’s killing the game, especially the Premier League, the product,’ O’Hara asked when asked about the rise of long throw-ins.
"It’s like watching non-league at the moment, some of the football I’m watching."
The midfielder-turned-pundit continued: "Spurs at the weekend: territory football, head it out, [Kevin] Danso comes up, gets the towel out and starts throwing… it’s so one-dimensional. Jamie Carragher is right, I get it, some of the lesser teams, like Brentford, if you’ve got a long throw, then it can cause problems and maybe create a chance.
"But the top teams doing throw-ins? I can’t believe what I’m watching. It’s all down to Arsenal. Arsenal started this. Arsenal started the long throw, the set-pieces. They’ve killed the Premier League in terms of fluid football and enjoyable football."
Asked if Arsenal play good football, O'Hara said: "No, they don’t, they don’t. Arsenal are the best at it, set-pieces and throw-ins. Arsenal are the best. But everyone is now copying what they’re doing, and they can’t do it like that.
"I’m seeing teams do long throw-ins, and they haven’t even got a long throw! It’s not even reaching the six-yard box. But everyone is trying to do it, and it’s so one-dimensional."