In the last thirteen games in all competitions, Man City have only lost twice. Once to Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday and once to Arsenal in the Premier League when Mikel Arteta’s long range blast ensured a 1-0 win at the Emirates last spring. In the interim, City have quite an impressive record. They have won nine and drawn just two games between the Arsenal loss and the Real Madrid loss and proved that money can’t buy you a championship, it can’t buy you class, it can’t buy you history, but it can buy you a lot of expensive players. And those expensive players give the manager a lot of options off the bench. Which is largely how Mancini and Man City have such an impressive record: they have an impressive bench.
In Mancini’s pre-match press conference he spoke about the need to keep those bench players, like Mario Balotelli, happy despite not being able to play them week in and week out. This is a problem that Arsenal supporters haven’t had to worry about for a few years as a combination of injury and penury have limited Arsene’s choices. But for the first time in years, Arsenal are a deep team as well. If Wenger starts Podolski, Gervinho, and Chamberlain, he’ll have Arshavin, Walcott, and Giroud that he can bring on. I can’t remember the last time that Arsenal had so many attacking options coming off the bench.
But oddly, in the last three games between these two sides, there have only been two goals. That’s not been for lack of options from Man City’s perspective but rather from a very defensive posture taken by Mancini in these matches. Opting for multiple holding midfielders from kickoff and for bringing even more deep lying mids on late in the games has the smell of a manager who is targeting one point instead of three.
But Man City are off to a rocky start this season and surely they will want to get all three points tomorrow. Leading me to believe that City will try to dominate possession and attack high up the pitch. It’s funny to say that City are off to a rocky start because both City and Arsenal have the same record so far: two wins and two draws. But the difference is that City’s defense has been plucked more times than The Rose of Tralee this season, giving up 11 goals in their last six games. Teams are coming after City and they are being rewarded for it. And most importantly from an Arsenal perspective, teams are counter-attacking City and City seem unable to cope.
As I’ve said before Arsenal are trying on different masks this season. Do they want to be that possession-based offensive team of the past (the Wenger mask) or are they the type of team that is comfortable defending deep and hitting teams on the counter (the Bould mask). As we saw in the second half against Montpellier on Tuesday, Arsenal struggled with the Bould mask: allowing the French champions far too many good chances on goal. They can’t repeat that performance against City, the Citizens have too many predatory finishers both in the starting lineup and coming off the bench. If Arsenal are going to cede possession it will have to be 90 minutes of hell from every position on the pitch.
And I trust that Arsenal will press City in every possible way. Cazorla and Podolski are the perfect examples of this new Arsenal philosophy. Podolski may be a striker but he always tracks back to help out his fullback. And Cazorla may be a #10, but like my favorite Arsenal #10 (Dennis Bergkamp) has a toughness to his game that belies his stature.
I also trust the swiftness of Arsenal’s counter. Podolski again epitomizes this: dropping deep to defend, he’ll win the ball and play it up to Cazorla. Then in a flash he’s on the end of the receiving pass for a goal scoring opportunity. This is far cry from the Arsenal team built around Cesc Fabregas and who even the IT Crowd joked “tried to walk the ball in to the net.”
But Arsenal have only played five matches so far this season and the problem is we don’t know if the club have truly changed character or if they are just trying on masks. What’s underneath the mask? Is Mannone a real challenger for Arsenal’s number one? Is Jenkinson ready to take the reigns from Sagna the way Cole took them from Sylvinho? Will Arsenal sit deep and harass City or will they look to match the Citizens pass for pass? These are questions that can only be answered when the masks come off in big games like this one against City.
I came here for the pictures of naked men in hot-tubs.
So….what gives? Some dude about to kick a football?
Tease.
I did say ‘pulling off’ that should be enough to get the juices flowing
It’s so easy to worry and so hard to relax before and during a fixture like like this. If we do come away with the three points tomorrow, here are a few words of wisdom on how best to spend your money when you celebrate:
“I spent 90 percent of my money on women and drink. The rest I wasted!”
- George Best
We have got the class of city players less winning mentality.
Early days don’t you think?
And our Park Chu-Young scores the winner for Celta Vigo today in a 2-1 victory. Whatever happened with him at Arsenal still remains a mystery but he’s still on our books and good to see him score today for his loan club.
I’m optimistic about this game and think they’ll give a good account of themselves. Some of the reasons for my optimism have been cited like how well Cazorla and Podolski have slotted into the side and the improvement in the defensive structure of the team. But the biggest reason is the overall maturity of the team. How long has it been that an Arsenal side have had the majority of its important starters and squad players aged 25 and older, many of whom are fixtures in their international squads? From Sagna, TV5, Mert, Koz, Santos, Arteta, Diaby, Cazorla, Rosicky, Poldolski, Giroud, and Gervinho you could pick a pretty darn good team of ten outfield players. Goalkeeper is in fact the one position where we’re relatively immature. Gibbs, Jenkinson, Wishere, Ramsey, Coquelin, and Theo round out the squad and except for Gibbs and perhaps, later in the season, Wilshere, our young stars are mostly backups. And unless a young player is exceptionally precocious, that’s how it should be. That maturity is something we haven’t had since, dare I say it, the title winning sides of the early part of Wenger’s tenure.
Can’t believe I forgot Ox, a particularly precocious youngster who it appears is going to be given plenty of chances to impress.
Completely argee. Ox is the player we all thought walcott was gonna be.
These game stats. Arsenal have only lost two of the last 19 they’ve played in all competitions, while if one looks back 19 games for City, they lost four. Course, if the look-back is 21 games, then you add two shutout losses to the Arsenal side, and two more clean sheets for City.
More to the point, in their last 7 games of last season, City had an 18-4 goals for vs against differential, while Arsenal had a 13-10 differential. This season, these numbers are reversed: Arsenal are 8-1 in differential, while City are 14-11, having played one more.
Tim, will you enroll your daughter in organized soccer when she’s eligible? My eldest just started U7 Nortac and loves it… Curious what you think of the leagues in Tacoma, and how you think I should pressure my kid to live out my dreams… Do you think he could be the next Clint Dempsey???
We are registered at the Y. If she keeps liking it, I’ll start looking at the pay schools.
If you’re lucky he’ll be the next Owen Hargreaves
Ah, Owen Hargreaves, the pride of Calgary…who renounced his Canadianness to play for England. I can’t imagine why.
In line with Tee Song’s theme about the overall maturity of our team, at the end of the day, I don’t want to hear Wenger oft repeated phrase from years gone by, ” we were a little bit naive”.
Well, we were a little bit naive… Sigh!!
Come on lads! Let’s make it 2 draws and 3 wins to start the season. Come on Arsenal!
Tony Pulis – What a cunt! When his team are on the receiving end of a bad tackle, the situation is totally different….Whatever happened to his stupid template “He’s not that kind of a guy”. The double standards shown in England is just beyond belief. When Arsene Wenger said the exact same thing these goons ganged up on him! I only hope Knightley broke his leg and the Chelsea fans jeered at him….then he’d know what Arsene Wenger and the Arsenal fans went through……Piece of shit!
Win lose or draw…todays game will be base on speed of attack. TV may not play then Per and Kos will. Diaby has to play to help with ManCity height. As long as no one gets sent off there will be goals at both ends. ManCity have not lost at home in 30 odd games. Their stadium is like a fortress similair to OT. We need to change that.
Giroud and Ox on the bench while Podolski at the top and Ramsey comes in LM. Will be interesting.
Ramsey’s pass at 16′ was Fabregesque. Too bad Gervinho’s touch was Adebayoresque.
Someone close down Yaya, please.
Get Gervinho some Stickum for his boots.
Okay, 1st set piece goal score against us. We are not done yet.
Crap, my stream died just before the corner…
Was Mannone at fault?
YES!
Walcott and Giroud on for the King and Diaby.
KOSCIENLY!!!!!!!!!!
Good Gervinho, bad Gervinho, so it goes.
Jenkinson has had a stand out game.
Koscielny with a point saving rocket away from home. This is a draw that feels like a win.
A better Gervinho and this could have been a 3-1 win.
I really really like this team. We played our game, we fought back and stood up to the champions on their pitch.
Proud of our team…we didn’t lie down after their fluke goal. From strength to strength
Well that was alright. 1-1 against the millionaires
Per Mertesaker was simple excellent.
You boys out there in internet-sphere sometimes it not always about speed but being in the right position at the right time. You will find you can achieve the same result and guess what! folks often praise you for it. Bravo Per. You are my favourite friendly German from the very very beginning and Bould will make you better and better.
I thought Diaby lost his way after 65 minutes but Ramsay and Jenkinson was superb.
G Force should have won it for us but alas he is often very nervous in front off goal. (He need Ian Wright to coach him)
Finally…no matter how strong the rain may fall Arteta’s hair is always in place; you have to applaud the guy.
Santi Cazorla…what can I say except thanks for playing for TheArsenal
Jenkinson, Ramsey, Mertesacker, all outstanding. Very proud of the effort today, but disappointed that Gervinho had a “post-ACON-last-season” game. He could have won us that match.
Holy ssshh… don’t know where to begin, so will just say that we were superb, aside from that fluke of a goal. It’s amazing how confident Corporal Jenkinson is playing. Long gone are the days when he looked so much out of his depth. Our back 4 was splendid. Diaby with a couple of too much dwelling once again. That Cazorla rocket on goal should’ve gone in, plus the 3 Gervinho’s chances.
Proud to be a Gunner!
Jenkinson’s spectacular form just shows how much a bit of hard work and a love for the club can help you improve. Although we should remember Arsene must have seen the kid had potential to be the right back for the legendary Arsenal.
As for Gervinho, he’s clearly the pensive type. Why else would he try to keep that hair?
I remember wondering last season, “what was the point of signing Carl “played a handful of games in League One” Jenkinson?” Seemed like such a waste of a signing because I felt we needed someone at RB who could come in right away. Even at the beginning of the season, I was complaining of Jenkinson’s rare to medium rare doneness. On evidence of the last five games, I’d say he’s more medium to medium well. Very happy that he’s coming good, and long may it continue.
I am reminded that Wenger still has a knack for spotting unfulfilled potential.
On reflection, we could have gotten the win but a draw at the Middle Eastlands is a very good result and the least we deserved. As others have noted, Mert, Koz, Jenskinson and Ramsey all had very good games. Ramsey’s performance was the most interesting for me. He had a very good game but his role was obviously a little different, starting out on the right wing. It reminded me a little of how Fergie used to use Park out on the wing, sacrificing attacking flair for industry and energy. Ramsey’s tendency to drift inside meant that we really outnumbered Shitty in the midfield. He popped up in all kinds of useful places in the first half, allowing us to retain possession, circulate the ball, and providing attacking thrust while still putting in a defensive shift on that wing. Wenger is often accused of being tactically inflexible but that little lineup change was a large reason we pushed them back in the first half. Unfortunately, a defensive error and poor finishing meant we went into halftime down a goal against the run of play but it doesn’t negate the fact that Wenger won that tactical battle. Mancini’s substitution of Rodwell for Sinclair was an admission on his part that he needed an extra body to shore up his midfield. Perhaps because of the confidence gained, Ramsey continued to play well when he moved back into central midfield for Diaby.