MAN CITY 0 – 2 Arsenal – MY THOUGHTS
19 Jan
Oh, City. Fourteen games unbeaten, playing with a renewed swagger and confidence, stars back in form … and then a performance like that. Toothless. Aimless. Vulnerable. That the decision to award Arsenal a highly debatable penalty in the first half has barely been discussed post-match typifies the general feeling that City were not even close to their visitors. It is no exaggeration to suggest that the game could have been extended by another 90 minutes and the Blues still wouldn’t have scored. Still, I’m not convinced that we can read too much into this result when it comes to the depth of City’s squad or the likelihood of Chelsea claiming the Premier League title. It was just one of those awful, nothingy days.
Before going any further, it must be stressed that Arsenal were excellent. Uncharacteristically so. Everything that has been associated with them in the past with regards to the bigger games – of their weak spine, their tactical naivety, their desire to prioritise style over substance – was frustratingly absent. Instead, they were defensively resilient and compact, they hassled with authority in midfield and they broke with pace and purpose. Santi Cazorla and Francis Coquelin have justifiably attracted the majority of the headlines for the way in which they both nullified City and managed to stamp their quality on proceedings, but Olivier Giroud deserves a mention, too, for his performance up front. Physical and unstinting, he bullied City’s centre-backs, dragged them away from their comfort zones and was always a composed outlet for his teammates. This was, surprisingly from an Arsene Wenger side, a perfect away display in a challenging encounter. There is plenty for City to look at and learn from ahead of the meeting with Chelsea.
So, what went wrong from a City perspective? Well, Yaya Touré and Samir Nasri were absent, and the obvious thing to do would be to put the lack of class on the ball and the dearth of guile and control down to that fact. Many have highlighted how City haven’t won a domestic game without Yaya this season and it is incontestable that he offers a blend of power and intricacy that we do not otherwise possess in the squad. Yet a personal opinion is that it is all too simplistic to cite the Ivorian’s absence as the key factor in the Blues’ dour display.
It is only five weeks since Yaya was missing in Rome as City, under intense pressure and scrutiny, produced a quite brilliant European display to brush aside Roma and advance to the next stage of the Champions League. The midfield that night was Jesus Navas, Fernando, Fernandinho and James Milner. All four of them were outstanding: incisive, energetic, dynamic and effective. And yet that same quartet were passengers yesterday, sloppy in possession, unsure of their positions and bypassed by Arsenal’s swift breaks. Would Yaya have made a difference? Quite probably, yes. He has a mix of qualities that few others can match. But to suggest that we are incapable of controlling a game and of fashioning decent opportunities without him is simply incorrect.
What yesterday reinforced to me is just how dependent we are, in creative terms, on David Silva. If he plays well, with that spark and elegance that we have enjoyed on a weekly basis for the past few years, then City play well. If he is quiet, then, as we did on Sunday, we look limited. He was shackled extremely well, unable to locate space in central areas, and that forced him to drift wide and deep into positions from where he had minimal meaningful impact. Silva is, by a distance, our best player and with him on the fringes, City never looked like testing David Ospina.
One man who had the potential to do just that was Jesus Navas. Over the past few weeks, the Spaniard has induced an increasing amount of groans from the City fans, frustrated by the winger’s constant wastefulness and inability to beat the first man from a cross. Yesterday was as infuriating as anything we have seen from Navas in his time at City.
He will always be a threat thanks to his pace and his propensity for hugging the touchline, but from the positions in which he found himself, his end product was pretty abysmal. In his defence, the lack of a target man in the box seriously affects his delivery. When he has to aim for the likes of Sergio Aguero or Silva or Milner, his crosses cannot just be clipped in the air or floated aimlessly in the direction of the penalty spot. He has to be more accurate and drive balls along the ground. That, in turn, means there is more chance of them being cut out at source and, to that extent, I have sympathy for Navas. Yet the feeling persists that he should be more effective than he is. At the moment, he seems all too predictable and one-dimensional.
Make no mistake; this is a damaging defeat, not just in terms of knocking us further back from Chelsea, but in demoralising the fans and players just when confidence and momentum was building. It is, however, not a result that ends our title hopes. We may not be favourites, but with a visit to Stamford Bridge next up and with this squad’s ability to respond to adversity unable to be questioned, the chance is there to strike straight back.
Not sure how you can fail to mention Alexis Sanchez in rightly praising Arsenal’s superiority. The best player on the pitch by a distance even for allowing the numerous other fine displays from the visitors.
Navas remains an enigma. People I speak to point out his hard work, his defensive awareness etc etc but for a team looking to dominate domestically and in Europe he is clearly two levels at least below what we need. An impact sub at best. An upgrade in the summer is definitely needed and I hope he is moved on.
Having said both their goals were easily avoidable and the lack of organisation for the second was very worrying. Hart or Kompany must be better at doing that. Our lack of threat from corners continues to amaze.
A word about Nasri. He receives and holds the ball in and around the edge of the box, often in very tight situations, drawing opposition players towards him. He rarely cedes possession. He must be a nightmare to play against. We missed him yesterday almost as much as we missed Yaya.
How can a team have sixteen corners without producing a threat on goal from any of them?
Your right Trevor our corners must be the worst in the league. Amongst other things some major variation is needed there. A game to forget quickly, we need a very convincing performance against boro.
Guys, what you are both saying about corners is the TRUTH! Statistically, we are more likely to score from a Hart Goalkick than a corner.
We dont have wingers who run at defences and are direct enough to make things happen. Arsenal however have sanchez ox and cazorla who all run at defences. We need a change of style a new player is needed.