match report – player ratings – arteta reaction
Losing soccer games is never fun, but it’s fair to say that some defeats are harder to accept than others. If you go from zero to Wayne Bridge in the Champions League at that point (sorry to bother anyone), the needle on this one is just over 0.1.
Mikel Arteta made more changes than I thought he would. Six from the side that beat Man Utd, and you can find all sorts of reasons why. Some of them, like giving players minutes because they need them and we may need them in the Premier League, make a lot of sense, but I think it gave us a clue that despite all his pre-game talk, the manager I had prioritized this game in the context of our league campaign.
That being said, I think we were pretty decent in the first half. Leandro Trossard was impressive on the left, using the ball well to create a chance for Takehiro Tomiyasu which the keeper saved well, and himself had a shot on target which again was equalized by the keeper as well. He also created a chance for Eddie Nketiah, who pushed wide at the near post after some good movement in his box, and the former Brighton man already looks like a good fit.
At the other end, it was mainly about City trying to get the ball to Erling Haaland, who was involved in a ground battle with Rob Holding. He reminded me a bit of the game against White Hart Lane last season, but this time Rob was up against a genuinely difficult physical threat, and for the most part he did well, barring an early mistake from which Matt Turner rescued him. A yellow card just before half-time meant the manager did the sensible thing and took him off at half-time, sending William Saliba on in his place.
He also brought on Albert Sambi Lokonga for Thomas Partey in what he hoped would be a pre-planned switch, but it turns out we have some concerns about a rib injury. Arteta later said:
He had some discomfort and it was getting worse. She couldn’t continue. He didn’t feel comfortable continuing. Tomorrow or the day after we’ll have to do an MRI and see what he has.
City were better after the break, we weren’t as good as before, and that quality gap in midfield when Partey isn’t there is obvious. I thought Lokonga struggled at first, but he got into the game a bit. With the ball he’s fine, except that if Partey has 100 defensive awareness, the Belgian is around 10. City’s goal wasn’t simply his fault, but he was too static in the area, and it’s another performance when he didn’t you can avoid having some worries about whether it is the right fit for this team or not. The fact that we are actively looking for a midfield transfer suggests that those concerns are shared within the club as well.
Arteta’s response to falling behind was to bring in Gabriel Martinelli and Oleksandr Zinchenko, and the Brazilian caused some trouble down the left. City were trying to stifle the game with 200,000 passes, so it wasn’t easy, and when the manager made the last change on him, I think he was quite revealing. Bukayo Saka probably had his quietest game of the season, but if you really want to score a goal, you leave him on the field and replace Fabio Vieira with Martin Odegaard. Instead, Saka came out, Vieira went to the right and while it wasn’t exactly throwing in the towel, I think he did say something about how Arteta sees the rest of the season and what his real priorities are.
Afterwards, he was asked if he could take pride in his team’s performance and said:
At the moment it’s disappointing because we’re out and we could get a lot more out of that game and we didn’t. The feeling I have is that we competed a lot against them and we made it difficult for them, but we lacked something to beat a team like this.
Which I think we can all understand. Arteta hates losing. However, in the cold light of day, Partey’s injury aside, one could almost call this the perfect loss. We rotated big and we weren’t outplayed by a much stronger Man City side at home. In the context of what’s to come, when they come to London on February 15, there’s no reason this Arsenal team should go into that game afraid of them. Yes, our record against them is still a problem, but if we have all our strength and play at our best, there is nothing to intimidate us based on City’s performance last night. A word also to Matt Turner who had a very good game, he couldn’t do much for the goal, but his decision making and distribution was really good.
There was a lot of talk about how last night’s winners could have a psychological advantage in the Premier League game, but if any team is going to do that in this game, it’s us. Of course we still have to get out there and act and no one should take anything for granted, it’s just that the aura City once had is gone. Anyone can see that the gap between the teams, which was so, so big not too long ago, has been closed well and truly. The next step is to do what is long overdue and show that we can beat them.
It won’t be easy, but after what I saw last night from both sides, I think it’s well within our power.
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Ok, let’s leave it there for now. I will gather the news of transfers etc. on tomorrow’s blog, and we’ll also be recording the Arsecast Extra the day before for you.
Have a good Saturday.
