Manchester City attacker Bernardo Silva appeared to take a dig at the way Arsenal set up defensively to contain Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday. The Gunners largely shut down their visitors’ attacks, leading to an eventual stalemate, with many criticising the approach for its negativity.
“Arsenal are just sat back there,” Gary Neville said on commentary after the opening 30 minutes in which Mikel Arteta’s side rarely left their own half. “Arsenal are not really getting out; they’re not really pressing.”
The Gunners ultimately failed to overcome a seven-game hoodoo leading into the meeting that has seen them go winless against Pep Guardiola’s side away from home. However, the point does keep them above the champions in the table with nine games to go and represents a swing from last year’s losses.
Arsenal have now gone unbeaten in their last three encounters with City, including the Community Shield, which has limited opportunities for anyone, most notably Erling Haaland. Without switching formation, Arteta opted for a pragmatic approach to pressing, instead closing off any space around their own box with defiance.
Despite not making for the best visual spectacle, it provided a valuable point and one that eventually impressed Neville. “I’ve never seen a team make it so difficult for Manchester City in the final third – there just didn’t seem to be any spaces,” he said post-match.
“You see De Bruyne getting his head up to get that ball into the box, there just didn’t seem to be anywhere. I’m always cautious of being critical of Manchester City because even their level when not good is still a high level.
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“They still keep a clean sheet, dominate possession, press and try to probe, to try and do the right things. To say they didn’t get it right with the way in which Arsenal defended is unique.”
He added: “They answered two big questions today. One, their mentality – could they live in a big game against Manchester City? Remember they folded last year here, all over the place, whereas today they looked like a team that could go through a title challenge with a lot more mental strength. That was a big question answered here because it is difficult to come here.
“The other one obviously is the defensive side of things. Last year without Saliba they were harmed and that has been proven today. To me today Saliba was immense, so was Gabriel [Magalhaes], and the work ethic of the two wide players and two forwards was incredible.
“They really ganged up on Haaland – it was a classic ‘one go tight, the other drop off’, old-fashioned tactic. But, they had a lot of players around them that enabled them to do that. They had the full-backs narrow and tight, the midfield compact with them, then the two forward players when was needed tucked in.
“If you’re playing against world class players it often baffles me, don’t be embarrassed and think you need to double up. You have to get someone else with you and that’s what Jesus did. [Gabriel] Jesus got [Jakub] Kiwior out of a lot of trouble today. He was having a difficult game early on, Jesus right next to him and [Bukayo] Saka next to Ben White. They had a brilliant game.”
Silva was less enamoured with the block in front of his side at all times, though he did praise Arsenal for the effectiveness of their plan. “[It was] Tough,” he admitted. “We played against a top, top team. Very organised, very competitive, high rhythm. It could have gone both ways, to be honest. That is how I felt on the pitch.
“I think we started better but during the game they were very good as well, very organised. We had more possession, more control I felt, but they were always dangerous. Tough to play against them because man-to-man when they were pressing high, defending low, their wingers were playing as full-backs almost in a line of six. So, it is never easy to play against teams that defend this well when they’re high-pressing and defend so deep.
“I felt in the first seconds when we were building up they were trying to do man-to-man, pressing high and being aggressive, and then when we could get three or four passes together and put them deeper that’s when their wingers would go back, then they would be patient and not jumping. Two completely different games, and they were very well organised. It wasn’t easy to create chances for our strikers to score goals.”
To be described as having six men in a line at the back is a surprise in modern football that continues to be dominated by free-flowing football. For Arsenal it certainly worked though and City, despite their possession, were unable to fully find an answer to it.
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