The third and probably the more important thing as a pressing unit, is the defensive line that Arsenal is employing. As backed by Stats from a Skysports article, as compared to Saliba, the passes towards Saka & White drop by 50% when Holding starts. This causes a paralysis of the ball progression on the right hand side of the build up. In addition, his lack of ability on the ball results in him not being able to pick Ben White & Bukayo Saka enough. This results in Arsenal taking longer to progress the ball efficiently while inviting more number of pressures towards our goal leading to possession turnovers. But it is obvious as daylight that he has limitations during the build up play and with the ball at his feet. We all value his courageous performances from time to time when called upon. Without any grain of doubt, we absolutely love and admire Rob Holding as a player. The high very well coordinated press, Zinchenko playing as an inverted Fb/ Central MF, the intelligence of Xhaka in his newly found #8 role this season, the wing forwards mostly remaining high & wide, but currently the problem position remains Rob holding. So how will the boss set Arsenal up in this game? By now we all are familiar with the general characteristics that Arsenal XI has had under Mikel Arteta. There had been a lot of speculations about William Saliba’s availability in this game but if the news reports are to be believed, he is sure to miss out. FIVE Things to look at – Arsenal v City – The Etihad #1 – MIKEL ARTETA’s TACTICAL SETUP We need to gear up for the run in and support the team and the manager. Truth is, the media is already piling on the pressure and calling it a failure even though we are still 05 points ahead of City. But of-course, we all want this to go down to the wire and for us to win it. So as far to say as this, my personal source of satisfaction at the start of this season from Arsenal was to secure a top 3 finish. Lots of fans might disagree with it but that is the significance of the matter, this is a young team that is giving everyone nightmares. Arsenal are still in the phase of squad building and would probably need three more windows to complete the squad depth. Our Manager can never have the magic wand that allows Pep to buy anyone he wantsĢ. There are two things to gather from the above little analysis:ġ. I have deliberately left out wages per week expense which would further strengthen the point trying to be made here. Arsenal haven’t been able to match the spending prowess of Oil Rich/State Owned Manchester City obviously but still have spent significantly to support Mikel Arteta, after his initial clear-out was complete. The significant years, marked as Year 1 & 2 are the initial years of both Managers at the helm. Taking a look at the table below, Pep since joining City has spent unreal amounts of money on his defense alone (Source:) : Need I remind you, even having the best coach is not enough in the Premier league since you need players who execute the managers’ vision on the field. But the significance is immense and the media trial that Arsenal has been put on… for what ?! Celebrating?! Give me a break!!! At such a time, the fans have to be together and get behind the team till the very last game has been played. I never want to bring this up in any game or on any forum because it gives an air of finding excuses even before the game has started. The pressure is immense, against a team that is arguably the best in the world. Possibly, the most significant game of the Emirates Era. Belief is the keyword till the very end of this season if we’re to compete with this robotic Man City side.Īlthough, the last 3 results have been utterly disappointing, we move on to the most significant game in Arteta’s young career as a manager. When someone from the bench comes in and does that for your team right at the death, it says so much about the collective mental strength of the group. That goal made me believe in our team more than anything. Take your mind back to the Reiss Nelson Goal at the death against Bournemouth. Are we super excited for this game? Why shouldn’t we be.? The reason? Well, Mikel Arteta has instilled an unbelievable amount of self-belief in this young team, a fight that is reminiscent of battle-hardened warriors.
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