Loss Premier League: Manchester City 4 - 1 Arsenal | Wednesday 26th, April | KO: 20:00 BST | BT Sport

Last night was not good enough and we must not repeat the mistakes we made if we must get a result here. Even a draw will be good enough.

We just need to abandon our principle but you know Mikel will never do that. He's so obsessed with winning his own philosophy rather trying to be pragmatic.

Even Pep sacrificed possession when they came to the Emirates earlier in the year. We have to pragmatic. We have to protect Holding like a group of wildebeest would protect their youngest calf.

Prediction

Man city 0-1 Arsenal

COYG!

 

[SA Gunner]

And the collapse is complete. The optimistic people here should just face the music. City will run away with it. If you’ve seen this Arsenal side play and capitulate these last four matches there’s no way we win all the remaining ones. The good form is gone and Saliba’s injury has really rocked this side.

Remember when we were out of the running for top 4 last season. What happened next game?

The team will likely play a free game now that the league is done, and that means we will likely start winning again.

Just like being called bottlers, are we brilliant when the sun is shining and it’s over. So look out for that

 

[14Henry]

Seemingly to be a miserable whinging git who complains about either the coach or certain players with the regularity of someone who has long made up their mind and has little interest in the evidence in front of them

You couldn't be further from the truth mate. You've resulted to trying to be smart and insult me because im holding our manager accountable. A manager I believe has done a brilliant job this season.

But just because you believe the manager is brilliant doesn't mean there aren't obvious signs of weakness in his management.

His tactics were all wrong last night. I said it before the match and I will say it after. He made big mistakes with tactics and personnel. And has done the last 4 or 5 games.

As of the players I've been supposedly whinging about which player?

Apart from saying Holding is nowhere near good enough I haven't even even in the player threads much. Another wide of the mark take from yourself.

At least if you are gonna throw some **** around make sure it's actually true. Otherwise you look abit silly.

 

[lomekian]

The worst thing about yesterday is how Jack ****ing Grealish was acting like some hardman. Partey let him grab his shirt. Grealish you know.

Lauren would have killed him

 

[lomekian]

Also because we fail to be pragmatic when we play them whether it's Wenger or Arteta. We want to play our football.
Smaller teams don't mind parking the bus or changing their strategies and hoping for that one break. City play such a high line that it's easy to put a Toney or Mbuemo or any other fast and strong striker upfront waiting for that break

Problem is we don't have any physical presence up front to hold the ball when outnumbered. Jesus punches well above his weight, but he's a small guy, and all City's defenders are beasts.

Also, City never play a high line against us.

 

[MikelHadADream]

I think we can if we have a proper CDM which Partey was for a lot of this season.

Just felt like Partey couldn’t get near anyone.

Yeah true, we also had Saliba at the back so had 3 proper defenders behind Partey and Xhaka who did a much better job at stopping transitions.

It’s unfortunate those two aspects of our game have gone at the same time. Not having Saliba who pushes the team up is massive tbh.

 

[lomekian]

The squad isn’t as bad as people are making out. Trossard, Jorginho, Tierney, even Nelson and ESR are all perfectly good players at this level and more than capable of coming on and playing better than the players who started.

The squad will never look good enough if Arteta never picks them or when he does, they are rusty and he has them playing out of position or in ways they can’t play. He needs to become capable of changing things.

Really good players want to play, even City can’t keep all of their squad players all the time. The idea we’ll have some squad full of immense quality waiting to come in is a fantasy.

Trossard and Jorginho have only been with us 3 months. Nelson was injured when we needed him most. ESR hasn't been fit all season and has looked well off it in his limited minutes.
Tierney is the one who should have played more, but at the same time, Zinchenko has been fantastic for most of the season.

Arteta does need to improve in this respect, and having the likes of Trossard and Jorginho, and a fit ESR (and Nelson if he renews as he's finally found the assertiveness we've been waiting for) will help, and a full year with them gives Arteta less excuses. Also frankly, as this team develops and gets more clinical, it will be a lot easier to make earlier subs. So many games where better finishing or final balls could have seen our stars with their feet up on the hour mark.

 

[lomekian]

We played into City’s hand. Arteta really needs to consider a double pivot and a proper defender at left back, you can’t get away with only having Gabriel and White who can defend at the back.

Yeah that was his big error in this game. Needed to think more short term. Suspect it wouldn't have changed the result but would have made us more competitive.

 

[Clrnc]

Have to hand it to Pep really. Outfoxxed us completely

 

[MikelHadADream]

Yeah that was his big error in this game. Needed to think more short term. Suspect it wouldn't have changed the result but would have made us more competitive.

Our balance is all over the place at the moment. Rob is such a poor player you can’t play the same way and expect the same outcome, him being in the team has screwed the balance.

 

[14Henry]

Have to hand it to Pep really. Outfoxxed us completely

It's not difficult to outfox someone when you know exactly what they are going to do because they are so predictable.

If we all knew what Mikel was going to do and the formation he would pick Pep definitely would.

 

[lomekian]

You couldn't be further from the truth mate. You've resulted to trying to be smart and insult me because im holding our manager accountable. A manager I believe has done a brilliant job this season.

But just because you believe the manager is brilliant doesn't mean there aren't obvious signs of weakness in his management.

His tactics were all wrong last night. I said it before the match and I will say it after. He made big mistakes with tactics and personnel. And has done the last 4 or 5 games.

As of the players I've been supposedly whinging about which player?

Apart from saying Holding is nowhere near good enough I haven't even even in the player threads much. Another wide of the mark take from yourself.

At least if you are gonna throw some **** around make sure it's actually true. Otherwise you look abit silly.

Going through your posts, you've been 'holding our manager accountable' with alarming regularity. The vast majority of your posts concerning him have been negative, even when we we had won 7 in a row recently. It won't let me go back to your thoughts early in the season when we were well ahead of expectations, but for someone who thinks the manager has done a brilliant job this season, you have failed to express that on here for months.

 

[Yousif Arsenal]

In big away games this season we show some balls and played well sadly yesterday was step back we need to find a way to get something from man city arsenal need to give me something make me watch the games against these bastards.

 

[lomekian]

Have to hand it to Pep really. Outfoxxed us completely

Yup. City played a tactic against us that they haven't done against anyone else, exploiting our midfield's lack of running power, shutting down our wide attackers and aiming all their attacks at Rob Holding.

 

[Clrnc]

Yup. City played a tactic against us that they haven't done against anyone else, exploiting our midfield's lack of running power, shutting down our wide attackers and aiming all their attacks at Rob Holding.

Pep is capable of switching things around, same at Emirates he went long to bypass our press but we stupidly keep doing the same thing and play into their hands.

 

[SA Gunner]

Have to hand it to Pep really. Outfoxxed us completely

The other tactic he speaks about, switching roles with Haaland was simple, yet also so brilliant.

Yes, Guardiola had a state backing him, but I think he’s the best coach in the world, probably by a gap. Guy comes up with so many ideas, in every aspect of play.

 

[14Henry]

Going through your posts, you've been 'holding our manager accountable' with alarming regularity. The vast majority of your posts concerning him have been negative, even when we we had won 7 in a row recently. It won't let me go back to your thoughts early in the season when we were well ahead of expectations, but for someone who thinks the manager has done a brilliant job this season, you have failed to express that on here for months.

Mate your barking up the wrong tree. I was Arteta out about 2 years ago. Since then I've backed him and he's proven me wrong. Something I've said about half a dozen times. Esepcially when I tag HairSpray in it or mention his name.

You've made an incorrect judgement. You've ran with it, and now you are too proud to say you're wrong.

I think Arteta is a brilliant manager. But you can think that and see his faults at the same time. It isn't exclusively one or the other.

 

[LittleMo]

Trossard and Jorginho have only been with us 3 months. Nelson was injured when we needed him most. ESR hasn't been fit all season and has looked well off it in his limited minutes.
Tierney is the one who should have played more, but at the same time, Zinchenko has been fantastic for most of the season.

Arteta does need to improve in this respect, and having the likes of Trossard and Jorginho, and a fit ESR (and Nelson if he renews as he's finally found the assertiveness we've been waiting for) will help, and a full year with them gives Arteta less excuses. Also frankly, as this team develops and gets more clinical, it will be a lot easier to make earlier subs. So many games where better finishing or final balls could have seen our stars with their feet up on the hour mark.

It doesn’t matter that Trossard and Jorginho have only been here 3 months, it’s been those 3 months we’ve needed them and that’s why we bought them in Jan. Both played well when they first came in, play well when they get subbed on and generally been better than those who start ahead of them. You can’t really say they are part of a poor squad tbh.

Teams worked out how to play against the Inverted LB system and Zinchenko has been poor for a lot of games now, should have brought Tierney in but let him play his own game. He’s also a good LCB, if Arteta could change the system.

The squad might be light with a few injuries but my point is just that we have overall a very good quality squad but Arteta just doesn’t use it.

 

[lomekian]

It's not difficult to outfox someone when you know exactly what they are going to do because they are so predictable.

If we all knew what Mikel was going to do and the formation he would pick Pep definitely would.

The key thing is, Pep's key players can change tactics, style and position instantly, so they would have adjusted. We've got some very good players, but most are more limited in that flexibility. We could have sat deeper with a double pivot and more conventional left back, and tried to counter, but we still would have lacked the legs in midfield and physical strength up front to really make that work against the City team that played last night - their most physically dominant and hardest working possible 11.

Haaland can play on the shoulder, he can be a target man and both to ELITE levels. KDB can play 6, 8, 10, support striker or even wide. Gundogan 6, 8 or 10. Bernado Silva - anywhere but centre back or centre forward. Akanji has played 4 positions this year. Stones has played 3 totally different roles this season (after years with Pep his finally hit his potential this year).

How many of our guys can play multiple different roles to the same level? Xhaka can do a few, but not at the level of any of City's players. White a couple (but no Tomi limits our options). Zinchenko a couple, but wouldn't have helped the situaition. Moving Saka wouldn't have helped. Jesus can play wide, but then we only have Eddie at CF.

Pep outsmarted Arteta again for sure, but having better players in almost every position, most of whom at the absolute peak of their careers, is a big help too!

 

[celestis]

He's pretty much right . Was a gutless performance .

 

[lomekian]

Mate your barking up the wrong tree. I was Arteta out about 2 years ago. Since then I've backed him and he's proven me wrong. Something I've said about half a dozen times. Esepcially when I tag HairSpray in it or mention his name.

You've made an incorrect judgement. You've ran with it, and now you are too proud to say you're wrong.

I think Arteta is a brilliant manager. But you can think that and see his faults at the same time. It isn't exclusively one or the other.

I did question whether my assertion was wrong, so did look up your profile, and you've had so many posts slagging off arteta in the last 2 months.
If my impression is inaccurate, and I missed lots of Arteta love, I apologise, but it certainly reflects your posting in recent times and (as you say) historically.