Manchester City have the strongest, most complete, and best squad in the English Premier League. Problems with chance creation and conversion, along with Erling Haaland’s catastrophic form, caused the club to look uncertain in January. As soon as this happened,Mikel Arteta’s team began defending its position and slowly pulling away from Manchester City andAston Villa. However, after the defeat to Manchester United, both Manchester City and Aston Villa are now only four points behind Arsenal.
The title chase is opened, and Arsenal does not look good there, especially by form, but also by team mentality and a manager who is so uncertain and does not have self-confidence. We are talking about Mikel Arteta, of course.
Arteta looks broken with the great demands of the owners that he can’t fulfil. He looks lost, and it is visible that he can not deal with the pressure! He looks so scared and distressed.
Arsenal’s wins in December were narrow and always depended heavily on the opponent. They almost dropped points against Wolves in their weakest form and scraped victories against Brighton and Everton. In all of those matches, Mikel Arteta looked completely lost, visibly fearful, and overwhelmed by what was happening as he stood on the touchline.
The bench saved him. Saka and Ødegaard were decisive players coming off the bench, and in each of those matches, a nervous and insecure Arteta kept throwing his biggest names later to fix the result. The result is that the team is not properly rest especially Declan Rice.
It was a clear alarm that something was wrong at Arsenal: the team had no clear game model. Today, Arteta looked even more confused against Manchester United, who finally, after many years, have a proper and elite coach—Michael Carrick
Someone who knows exactly who does what and who brings quality to his team.
The Fake Glory in the Champions League!
In recent days, Arsenal have been widely praised and branded as the best team in England and even in the Champions League, a team no one can compete with. The real truth is that Arsenal beat Bayern in the Champions League at a moment when that match was not important to Bayern, and they beat Inter last week when Inter had already practically secured qualification and were fully focused on crucial Serie A matches to maintain first place. That game simply was not a priority for Inter.
Did Arteta really spend a billion on this? This defending style is worse than Mourinho’s model of constant defending that has ruined Chelsea completely in his second mandate at the club!
Arteta has Zuimandi as his ideal key midfielder on the pitch, who is known only for his defensive impact.
Arteta has spent more than a billion on this squad—but for what? For a granite defence behind which he hides, with the most expensive centre-backs in the world who have been playing together since 2018. He cowardly hides behind the defence, and the team has no real creator except Ødegaard. He signed the Spanish midfielder Zubimendi, who has no offensive characteristics at all and is purely a destructive holding midfielder.
Arteta does not risk and thinks analytically. Purely defining zero attacking and taking at least some risks! It really smalls like Jose Mourinho.
Arteta uses him in a key midfield role and excessively overloads Declan Rice, who is a fantastic player but naturally a defensive midfielder. From the bench, he always introduces two or three heavy hitters, rotating Gyökeres and Gabriel, never playing them together. This reveals his fear: in an open match, he would lose to almost anyone. He hides behind powerful centre-backs and extremely defensive full-backs, with absolutely no risk in his football.
Raya is not close to Gabriel and Saliba’s level! That is a trouble!
What he overlooks—and what costs him dearly—is that David Raya is a catastrophic goalkeeper. He struggles badly and against United, conceded three goals from three shots. He is weak on his line and lacks height and physical presence, which are crucial qualities for a goalkeeper. His handling of crosses is a constant danger for Arsenal.
Arteta has money and quality on the bench, but Michael Carrick introduces Cunha from the Manchester United bench!
Mikel Arteta is a manager who has spent well over a billion pounds on this team and still has five or six top-class players on the bench, while Fletcher introduced Cunha. Despite having a stronger squad, Arteta lost to Manchester United, largely because he refused to take risks in this match. This situation is leading Arsenal into an even more restrictive and rigid approach than under Mourinho and his defensive football.
The point:
The team is not tactically coherent. Positions are unclear except in defence and on attacking and defensive set pieces. Everything revolves around Gabriel, a centre-back. The coach looks lost—this is visible in every match—yet the media continue to praise him. I would praise him, too, but honestly, I see no reason to. And Mikel Arteta is introducing from the beach every single game the top players. But even though he had 5 fantastic players on the bench, Carrick had Cunha and overturned him!
The title race:
Manchester City are entering the decisive phase of the season. They have survived a difficult period in january the, the hard rhythm has broken the team, but they have a huge squad and a plan B, and are firmly back in the title race.
Aston Villa are playing perfectly for points, and the league format suits them, especially given the vast experience of their coach. The team has changed its basic profile and style since January and is now looking for more direct football, with fewer combinations and a more vertical approach straight toward the goal. Arsenal, on the other hand, rely heavily on Arteta, Gabriel, and set pieces.
It was uncomfortable to watch matches in which Arsenal were leading, where everyone simply waited for a set piece or another heroic intervention from Gabriel. Arteta wants the League Cup title; first, he must get past Chelsea, and only then comes the final with somebody dangerous. Arteta, you should know that!
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