There was something extremely strange about Manuel Akanji questioning an Arsenal tactical foul that he believed went unpunished on Sunday at the Etihad Stadium. It wasn’t necessarily strange that each Manchester City player, masters of killing opponents with fouls, must have had trouble seeing the trick played to them. The point was that Akanji was right. Arsenal, elegant but unsuspecting, were essentially cynical defenders.
The city breakouts ended as they began with quick clips and shirt grabs, Gabriel greater than prepared to lift the shackles of Erling Haaland at every opportunity, while David Raya took his time before each goal kick. It will need to have been a familiar sight for the visitors at the Etihad Stadium. How often they lamented the same tricks played on them, insisting that what mattered anyway was not the time added at the end, but the momentum lost.
For a generation, Arsenal needed to accept one point won the right way, with moral victories, while their rivals demanded real victories. Like each of England’s historic powerhouses, they’ve placed on different faces in numerous eras of glory, but Arsene Wenger instilled a particular sense of glorious weakness in the club after the Invincibles. Arsenal now not had a problem with the primary, the arms of the 4 defenders raised in unison after one other flawlessly executed offside trap. The thing about Arsenal was that they were at all times attempting to get into the motion and get finished at the other end by Didier Drogba, Jon Walters, Stelios Giannakopoulos. They would lose, but they might look great doing it.
Unai Emery couldn’t change that. In any case, the era of banter reached its peak when Arsenal escaped the top 4 after which lost the Europa League. With Mikel Arteta set on changing the culture in north London, he needed time to maneuver the club away from the mentality of this iconic meme. Even fighting for titles, Arsenal might have been hit in the back of the head with an inanimate carbon rod from an icy Arsenal. Deprived of their star centre-back, with most of their midfielders limping around the pitch, they took it upon themselves to offer Manchester City a respite. Noble, silly. Call it what you would like, but the title went with it.
Not this time. Arsenal were cynical, a bit “clever”, as their manager put it, and above all, they excelled defensively. “You have to show that resilience and put aside your ego and your ideology and how you have to win the game,” Arteta said on Tuesday. “The team was really mentally strong and the way they did it was really smart.”
Would anyone associated with Arsenal, the Premier League’s top scorer, be the least bit concerned that the cost of this performance was that a so-called neutral spectator was barely annoyed by the lack of activity from the goalkeeper’s mouth? By the way, who’re all these football fans who’ve invested in a subscription to look at the sport but haven’t yet selected a team? This seems extremely suspicious. The joy of leaving told its own story. Of all the things many of them have seen on their travels, having an Arsenal team perform in an elegant and arranged manner is a rare privilege.
Perhaps this can develop into an increasing number of common. The arsenal of Declan Rice, Gabriel and William Saliba is a defensive force whose gravitational pull is only growing. In the nine Premier League games they’ve played in 2024, they’ve conceded just 4 goals, never multiple in a match. In these games, the opposition managed 72 shots, giving a total expected goals of 4.11, with the latter being just a smidgen greater than Manchester United conceded to Manchester City at Old Trafford in October.
A 12 months and a half later, Gabriel and Saliba have developed their very own telemetry, which is reminiscent of George Graham’s play, led by Tony Adams and Steve Bould. The former could force a fight with Erling Haaland on the pitch and really become involved, knowing that right behind him can be one of the Premier League’s best defensive defenders. Such pairs should only improve over time. They have plenty of it. Gabriel is 26, Saliba 23.
“You just feel it when you see a partnership and sometimes there is a chemistry between two players that complements each other,” Arteta said. “They are very happy to collaborate with each other, work on each other, and when that happens, everything just flows. I think they’ll enjoy playing together and they’re really comfortable again.”
That’s obviously the last item neutral viewers want. The great joy of every televised Arsenal match for many of 2010 (save for the temporary period during which Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny held the balance) was almost a guarantee of jaw-dropping perfection on the one hand and grand farce on the other. Would Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang or Alexis Sanchez rating enough to beat not only their opponents, but also the combined efforts of Shkodran Mustafi and David Luiz?
These teams could be many things. The only thing you would make sure they never were was a boring, boring Arsenal. If any fan knows from their history, a little bit of boredom can achieve rather more than simply being a band that captivates, delights and entertains. So don’t be concerned should you haven’t got fun as Arteta’s team turn their biggest games into a tight and demanding competition where they get what they need. The Arsenal fan in your life probably has enough fun for each of you.
Credit : www.cbssports.com
