Match report – Player ratings – Arteta reaction – Video
“Nobody asked me about the midfield three in Bilbao”, said Mikel Arteta after yesterday’s 1-1 draw with Man City, which was true, and evidence that results inform analysis to a large extent.
It was pretty much the main topic of discussion among fans though. Pre-game, during the game, and certainly after. In the absence of Martin Odegaard, the manager chose Mikel Merino to fill the gap, in a move that really shouldn’t have surprised anyone. I’ve said often my personal preference is for something different – Ethan Nwaneri and Eberechi Eze would be where I’d go – but what I want or you want and Arteta wants are very often distinct.
On the one hand, there’s a solid argument to be made that his record in games against the ‘big’ teams (and Sp*rs) grants him the leeway to pick who he wants. We were routinely getting turned over in too many of these fixtures, and until we lost to Liverpool last month we’d gone 22 games without being beaten by one of those sides. That’s a far cry from shipping lots of goals and going home feeling humiliated again, and I do genuinely think some of those games have left an indelible mark on this manager.
He was on the receiving end of some of those defeats, not just as the man in charge but as a player too under Arsene Wenger. Not to scratch at old wounds, but think back to games at Anfield and Stamford Bridge and the Etihad. Tough. Damaging. And I do wonder if they leave you with a mindset – even subconsciously – that is determined to ensure that first you don’t lose when you face this kind of opposition.
On the other hand though, Arsenal’s defensive platform is about as good as is gets, and the club have invested heavily this summer on players who make a difference up the other end. I think it’s very different if you approach a game like and you have only Raheem Sterling and some lightweight Academy kids at your disposal. When your bench has the likes of Eze, Nwaneri, Saka, and Gabriel Martinelli on it, you have to understand why there’s some disquiet at the selection of a more functional than creative midfield.
Basically that trio of Martin Zubimendi, Declan Rice and Merino is about containment, so when you concede after 9 minutes, your game-plan has taken a real hit. I will say, bar one moment when he was caught on the ball which led to a City shot, I thought Merino was probably the brightest of our three central midfielders, but just the wrong choice for yesterday’s game. He isn’t a DM as some categorise him, but he’s much more akin to one than he is to someone like Martin Odegaard whose creativity Arsenal missed yesterday.
On their goal, it is fascinating how one split-second decision can impact a football game. With the ball bouncing around City’s midfield, Gabriel made a rare misstep by trying to win the ball as it broke loose, which then left the space for City to ruthlessly expose. It’s a hugely efficient piece of play from them and you knew as soon as Erling Haaland got through it was going to be a goal. If Gabriel stands his ground and lets his midfielders get on with it, that space isn’t there and the goal likely doesn’t happen even if City win the ball. And much like the Liverpool game, we’d have had two teams who basically cancelled each other out tactically.
It would probably have been 0-0 at half-time, but a goal behind we had to change something. Bukayo Saka’s introduction for Noni Madueke was enforced after the former Chelsea picked up a knock early on according to Arteta, but Eze on for Merino was the obvious switch. And here’s where I feel like we can have some regret. The way we dominated Man City for that second period, with those players on the pitch in those positions, can’t help but make you think what it might have been like if we’d done that from the start.
Arteta dismissed that suggestion as too simplistic on Sky Sports afterwards, and while I don’t think we’d have done that to them for 90 minutes, it might have sent a message from kick-off about what this team is, or should be, about. Look at how Pep Guardiola, possibly the game’s most attacking manager in recent history, reacted to our domination. City sat deeper and deeper, eventually taking off forward players and putting on more defenders to play with five at the back.
Maybe he felt Arsenal lacked the creativity and attacking power to break his team down, but maybe it was a move based on fear of what he thought this second half iteration of the side was capable of. Either way, he parked the bus. Saka made a difference, Eze made a difference, and while we weren’t creating tons of clear cut chances, we were far better. City played like we did at their place last season, but we had 10 men due to the ridiculous red card issued that day.
We had set-pieces but their gigantic goalkeeper gave them important presence and rendered those ‘opportunities’ somewhat redundant. What’s quite funny about how this game played out is that Mikel Arteta – who started so cautiously with his team selection – veered right onto the Arsene Wenger highway in the pursuit of a goal. He didn’t have ‘all the strikers’ at his disposal, but he took off a defender to put Gabriel Martinelli on, and threw on Nwaneri too. Desperate times call for desperate measures, I guess, but framing it like that probably does a disservice to the equaliser.
Whatever else you might say about this game or this performance, the quality of that goal is not to be taken for granted. In the third minute of seven added on, Eze spotted Martinelli’s smart run and played a ball over the top. For once City’s defensive line wasn’t on the edge of their own box, and the Brazilian can exploit space like that better than anyone else in this team. His first touch is outstanding, to keep the ball in his control but away from the defender, and don’t sleep on the execution of that finish. To dink it perfectly over a keeper as big as Donnarumma while running at top speed is not easy at all. The ball seemed to take an age to hit the back of the net, but that’s where it ended up and I think we probably deserved that on the balance of that second half in particular.
It’s been a good week for Martinelli, and I think when you look at the two goals he scored, and where he scored them from, there’s probably a conversation to be had about where he’s most effective. I’ve often wondered if he might be an option at centre-forward, and given we’ve invested heavily in a direct-running, low-touch striker like Gyokeres, Martinelli is in the same ball park in terms of how you need to play if you put him up front. I’m pleased for him though, he’s had a lot of criticism, some of it has been way over the top, and he deserves real credit for scoring the kind of goal that would have people Ooohing and Aaahing if you saw it done elsewhere.
Afterwards, Arteta said:
I’m extremely proud of the players and the team. That’s the overall feeling, and I’m very disappointed with the result. There are a lot of feelings because I know how hard it is to do what we’ve done on the pitch against Manchester City with that level, with that coach. I wanted more reward for the team.
My gut feeling at the end was obviously tinged with relief, when you score that late there’s a real elation that comes with it, but I couldn’t escape the sense this was a game that we could have taken more from. There’s a thin line between stupidity and bravery in football, but when you have players who – as we saw in the second half – can significantly impact a game like this, it feels like a missed opportunity to have erred on the side of caution from the start. Whatever about Anfield, and I understood that selection much more there, at home I think we need to be braver. As I wrote earlier this month, the summer investment demands Arteta take the handbrake off.
In conclusion, this was a game that Arsenal could not lose, for obvious reasons, but perhaps more than that it was one Arteta himself couldn’t lose. I know he can be stubborn, but he is a manager with a capacity for learning and implementing ideas to improve his team based on previous experience. I hope yesterday is a moment where he realises there’s potential to this team that can be unlocked if he tips the scales just a little bit more towards the attacking end. The players are there, the talent is there, and it’s up to him to produce the kind of football they’re capable of.
A point against Man City is never a terrible result, especially in the context of a late, late equaliser, but I can’t escape the feeling we could, and should, have had more from this game. For more on all of the above, James and I recorded the Arsecast Extra last night, so it’s ready for you to listen to below. For now, have a good one!
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