Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta replies to criticism of his team’s playing style against Man City



Arsenal’s playing style against Manchester City was questioned by Pep Guardiola and his players after their 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium.

Man City took the lead through Erling Haaland’s tenth league goal of the season but the Gunners replied with new signing Riccardo Calafiori scoring a stunning goal.

Mikel Arteta’s team took the lead through Gabriel scoring yet another goal from a set-piece situation.

However, the red card to Leandro Trossard towards the end of the first half completely changed the complexion of the match and forced the Gunners to sit back and defend their lead in the second half.

They kept giving the ball away to Man City and sat back but Man City were able to break the deadlock in the final stages of the match, through substitute John Stones.

Some of the Man City players criticised how Arsenal played at the Etihad Stadium but Arteta has defended his team’s playing style.

Speaking ahead of his team’s Carabao Cup tie against Bolton, the Spaniard said, as reported by The Telegraph:

“Well, we had to play the game that we had to play. The first 15 minutes, we couldn’t. They played 30 seconds with 10 men. Look what they did. It’s normal what they did.

“Unfortunately, we’ve been in the same situation. We were in that same situation with Granit and when we lost 5-0. So we’d better learn. If not I would be very thick.”

Arsenal came under first for their approach against Man City. (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)
 

“The team has a desire to compete in any context; to win and to adapt. Different competitions and different ways of playing — it is superb.

“Happy? No. Because we wanted to win the three games, but I understand how tough that context is and how difficult it is.

“The things we have to deal with and our own issues with the amount of players we have out. It is a significant improvement and we have to be happy with that.”

Arsenal nearly pulled off a memorable win at the Etihad

Arsenal nearly managed to win the match after a monumental defensive shift until Stones equalised late in the game.

The criticism of the Gunners and their playing style is a bit harsh considering they were down to ten men and had no other option but to show respect to Man City and sit back to defend.

With ten men, if Arteta had decided to attack the best attack in the league, they would have scored goals for fun. Instead he tried to adopt a defensive approach and gave his team the chance to defend their lead.

Their game plan almost worked but Stones scored in the last minute of added time to seal the draw for the Premier League champions.