New-look Arsenal have same old bad habits as Manchester City expose defensive weaknesses

Blue heaven: Bernardo Silva wheels away after doubling City’s lead
EPA
James Olley13 August 2018

Time will tell whether Unai Emery is successful in building an Arsenal side for tomorrow, but this defeat to Manchester City is a reminder it is not ready today.

City are the team of the moment, champions by a record-breaking margin and favourites to retain the Premier League because Pep Guardiola has them in a settled rhythm which even a World Cup summer cannot disrupt.

The visitors were not at their best, wasting several promising situations with muddled decision-making in the final third, but the Gunners were notably second-best as one team starting the task of putting their manager’s ideas into practice met another fully attuned to the demands placed upon them.

This was Europa League against Champions League — and that is not Emery’s fault. Arsenal’s opening two fixtures have asked a difficult question of their new boss: does a progressive manager temporarily shelve his brand of play in pursuit of short-term pragmatism for fixtures they have often struggled in?

City at home and, to a lesser extent, Chelsea away ask questions of Emery’s team they are not yet ready to answer. It is akin to taking a driving test after only a couple of lessons.

The flaws which brought about the end to Arsene Wenger’s time in charge were never going to disappear in a truncated pre-season, albeit one in which the Gunners did their business early enough to give their new signings a fighting chance of understanding Emery’s methods from the outset.

The Spaniard wants his teams to play out from the back, charging goalkeeper and centre-back with increased levels of responsibility in possession, allied to a high-pressing game, which this group of forwards are not used to.

His decision on Sunday not to pursue a more conservative style is a nod to the wider changes he is trying to make, but here the uncertainty only reinforced City’s superiority.

In Pictures | Arsenal vs Manchester City | 12/08/2018

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Yet, even in the modern world of immediate conclusions and definitive opinion, Emery cannot be judged on matches like this alone. There was a sense he gave the existing players an opportunity to prove they fit into his vision of the future.

The absence of Lucas Torreira from the starting line-up was something of a surprise, given he is the combative defensive midfielder Arsenal have missed for years on occasions like this. Instead, Matteo Guendouzi partnered Granit Xhaka.

Guendouzi has the temperament, talent and bravery to overcome the inconsistency of youth, but he is yet to master the defensive side of the game, regularly allowing runners to drift behind him.

Xhaka’s rap sheet in committing this crime is much more extensive and using the pair as a defensive shield in a 4-2-3-1 system against a team as potent as City was like trying to stop a waterfall with a colander. Raheem Sterling beat them both for City’s opening goal.

Torreira replaced Xhaka for the final 20 minutes and it is hard not to imagine that change could be more permanent. The Uruguay international surely has to start against Chelsea on Saturday.

Substitute goalkeeper Bernd Leno may feel the same. Petr Cech made three fine saves — two from Riyad Mahrez and then Aymeric Laporte in quick succession during the first half — before denying Sergio Aguero when sent clear after Guendouzi failed to snuff out a counter-attack after the break. But the veteran looked uneasy in playing out from defence, most notably when almost turning Guendouzi’s innocuous first-half back-pass into his own net. He was, however, helpless when Bernardo Silva doubled City’s lead on 64 minutes.

All four of Arsenal’s outfield summer signings ended this match on the field, Torreira and Stephan Lichtsteiner joining starters Guendouzi and Sokratis Papastathopoulos.

Emery must prove that these players actually improve Arsenal’s starting XI, while also extracting more from longer serving players.

Off the bench: Torreira had to settle for a substitute appearance
AFP/Getty Images

Mesut Ozil’s £350,000-a-week contract was heralded as a landmark moment for a club previously incapable of matching the best salaries around, but with that extra income comes increased responsibility. Assessments of his contribution are more exacting, too, and he failed to meet the required standards here, operating on the periphery of a game which someone of his standing should influence more readily. The row over his retirement from international football may not have completely left the 29-year-old German’s mind, but Emery can ill afford any such mental hangover.

Emery and his players need time to adjust to each other and we may not see a clear picture of how Arsenal will operate on a regular basis for several weeks. The mood in the stands, however, has already changed. Had Wenger played a 34-year-old out of position at left-back against City, left their shiny new midfielder on the bench and restricted Alexandre Lacazette to a second-half cameo, he would have been in for a rocky ride.

The Emirates faithful are desperate to see something different, signs of evolution and a fresh approach, and they stuck by their team until filing out late on as City closed out the game in authoritative fashion.

There was enough here to tell us Emery has taken positive steps down a new path — but also that City have picked up exactly where they left off last season.

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