21/9/2025 Sunday
In the new Premier League season, it is expected that Arsenal will finally win the league after more than twenty years, but Arsenal doesn’t look sharp at all. It shows that Arteta has run out of ideas and that he has to go.
Firstly, the starting XI is very problematic for the Spanish manager on the Arsenal side. In today’s game, he chose Trossard as the left winger, but he had previously been benched and hadn’t played much in the starting eleven. He usually played as a substitute when an offensive impact was needed.
Full-backs Calafiori and Timber can’t move inside. Calafiori can do it against weaker teams, as he already did this season, but Timber isn’t good offensively, and their impact doesn’t exist against teams like Manchester City. They have a weaker constitution, and Arsenal fans should not make stars of them for a few good games at the start of the new season.
Arteta’s first signing was Zubimendi. He wanted one of the strongest defensive midfielders in the world purely for defensive duties, so he could give space to Calafiori. But Calafiori doesn’t have a good shot; he isn’t strong, he lacks shooting technique, and he is very small for the physical demands of the Premier League.
With Zubimendi, he wants a defensive midfielder who cuts the opponent’s passes and doesn’t pass much himself. In midfield, Merino is very important, but he isn’t that good; he is inconsistent, doesn’t shoot, and rarely provides an assist. Arteta even used him as a number 9 last season.
Here you see a stamp of the Spanish coach Arteta. Instead of having a talented midfield, combined with Odegaard and Rice, to put them together. Altogether, he should have bought one very good and talented midfielder, so Odegaard and Rice can be combined with him. Instead, he has signed Zumimendi, who is there only for his defense and defensive tasks.
With him in the system, Declan Rice is spending too much on defensive tasks and can’t have a good offensive impact. He uses their Merino, who can play a midfield role well. Calafilori then enters the midfield, and that looks very bad on the pitch. Although that was working well against the small teams at the beginning of the season.
But a midfield is very important for football, and this is why Arsenal fans will cry again at the end of the season, they will again be trophyless, and then Arteta’s departure will finally happen.
Raya is highly insecure in goal. He is short, of a smaller constitution, and that affects his defending skills and damages his goalkeeping ability.
Haaland’s attitude is very important
Haaland is undoubtedly the best player in the Premier League right now, but there is a problem with his motivation and agility. He has achieved a lot in his Manchester City career. He was the Premier League’s top goalscorer last season, and he is at his peak currently, but he plays when he wants to, only when he is motivated. That is an issue in the dressing room and shows Guardiola’s struggle to motivate him. He plays when he is interested, when City play in a way that excites him. Sometimes he is satisfied with City’s play, sometimes he isn’t. His effort depends on it.
He is the best striker in the world: he can score with his left foot, right foot, against any defense, and with headers. He can do anything, with the left or right foot, but it depends strongly on motivation.
Guardiola lacks tactics, even if he creates a good lineup. In the second half, City was much better on the pitch against Arsenal. Arsenal was tactically outplayed. Their shorter players were dominated by Manchester City’s offensive wall in midfield. Arsenal’s shorter and weaker players in defense and midfield couldn’t create many.
Guardiola’s 4-1-4-1 system worked with Doku, Bernardo Silva, Foden, and Reijnders. They were there to secure a second goal for Manchester City, but they didn’t do that. They conceived a goal later, and didn’t win because they didn’t score a second goal earlier.
Later, only Guardiola can explain why he substituted Haaland, Doku, Foden, and O’Riley, bringing in Nico, Savinho, and Stones.
Arsenal scored a well-deserved goal, and City lost highly important points.
What is interesting in Guardiola’s new tactical model is that Doku, Foden, Reijnders, Bernardo Silva, and the others in front of Haaland are not playing for him. They aren’t there to create for Haaland but to make their own offensive impact. They create shooting chances, combine with passes, and rely on individual actions. For example, Doku on the left, or Foden in central positions, Foden is very dangerous at his position, which he is taking in the pitch, he can shoot and score very easily. Doku can exploit empty spaces and score or pass very well.
They are not working to create chances for Erling Haaland. They rely on their individual quality, such as Foden’s shot, which can easily trouble the net, or Bernardo Silva’s technique and football knowledge.
The city’s system disappears when substitutions are made. Once Doku, Haaland, and Foden are taken off, City doesn’t play that system anymore. That is why they conceded after those substitutions.
Savinho doesn’t play that role. These players—Doku, Foden, Silva—are privileged and highly admired by Pep Guardiola for their offensive skills and passing priority.
If they played this formation to create space for Haaland, it would be a breakthrough tactic for Guardiola. But Haaland must not lose the ball too often, has to stay highly motivated, and has to be involved in it.
Arsenal’s problem is their smaller physical build and strength weakness.
The main thing for them is to stop relying on set-pieces and improve their open play. They have to stop forcing set-pieces as a tactic and play proper football on the pitch. They must beat their opponents with good, well-played football in open play. They need to play aggressive football, with creative wingers, faster passes from Rice and Odgaard, and put in much bigger efforts to break down Premier League defenses from open play.
Their current midfield area isn’t good enough. They need more creativity and fast, playing passes that can unlock through Premier League defenses. They also need a good influence from the wingers from both sides.
If they do that, they can win the Premier League and show their qualities. Relying on corners and set-pieces shows their incapability in real play. It doesn’t look good for the fans, and they shouldn’t rely only on that if they want trophies.
Martinelli scored a beautiful goal. He skipped past Gvardiol easily and lobbed Donnarumma. This mistake brought Arsenal the equalizer, even though they weren’t good on the pitch. Donnarumma, Gvardiol, and Pep Guardiola, with unnecessary and weak substitutions, have given Arsenal a draw. If there was James Trafford on City’s goal, this would never have happened.
They must be much better on the pitch. Arsenal has avoided the loss, but they have to improve, very much to improve. In the second half till Guardiola’s substitution, Arsenal struggled and could not create more chances. In the end, Arsenal has disappointed again.
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