Does City defeat show Arsenal lack “big club” mentality?
The Gunners slumped to a 1-0 defeat to table-toppers Manchester City at the Emirates but it was how they were beaten that is cause for concern.
Everyone can agree that Arsenal has made strides in the right direction since Mikel Arteta took over but it is not going to be smooth sailing for the club. The defeat to Manchester City while on the stat sheet looks like a commendable effort but in reality, Arsenal already looked beaten once Raheem Sterling’s header nestled into Bernd Leno’s goal.
Was the game over before it started?
Raheem Sterling ⚽
— B/R Football (@brfootball) February 21, 2021
76 seconds played.
Arsenal 0-1 Manchester City pic.twitter.com/ejIUnmd8Nz
For the first 15 to 20 minutes, Arsenal was shell shocked, and the fact that City scored from the opening kick-off without an opposition player touching the ball, that is truly eyebrow-raising. Now we all know what a juggernaut City has become this season under Pep Guardiola but speaking to supports and journalists alike, some believed there was a sense of inevitability about the result, even before kick-off.
This is what has plagued Arsenal for years, “well it is Manchester City, happy with a 1-0 loss, we only just got beat”. Now I am not saying that is what Arteta has instilled but that was the feeling around the club when Arsene Wenger was in charge and there are still quite a few players who are still there from the Wenger days.
Very rarely would Arsenal go to Stamford Bridge or Old Trafford and think they could get a positive result but there has been a little shift since Arteta took over, but against City, it all came coming back. Some of that was most likely down to team selection. It was clear that the second leg against Benfica was higher on the priority list.
Despite only being a goal down, there was no real urgency from the side, apart from Bukayo Saka. Aside from the youngster, Granit Xhaka seemed like the only one who cared about the result.
No desire to push for an equalizer
In the last 20 or so minutes there was no real determination to try and grab a point, rather that we were happy to only lose by one goal and not concede any more. I would have preferred Arsenal to go and attack City and show some desire to take it up to the league leaders, if that meant conceding one or to goals going the other way then so be it. That is better than sitting back and accepting a 1-0 loss.
Although Arsenal did tighten up defensively, had City been focused then they could have battered Arsenal. Despite the scoreline remaining 1-0 as the game came to a close, did Pep Guardiola look like a man whose side was only a goal up? There was no patrolling the sideline, barking instructions. Instead, he was as relaxed as you could get because there was not even a hint of worry about the Gunners trying to take it up to them.
How Arsenal played out the match is perhaps more disappointing because City had switched off mentally and you could argue that had there been more attacking impetus then a goal could have materialized.
It is now clear at all the eggs are in the Europa League basket as that is the only way Arsenal can secure European football next season. Sitting 10th and with 11 losses on the season, they are nine points behind Chelsea in fifth and look destined for a mid-table finish.
The defeat was hard to take, especially in the manner in which it happened and now attention turns to the second leg against Benfica and you can only imagine that fanbase and the level of pressure heaped on Arteta and Arsenal should they fail to progress to the next stage.
