Pep succeeded with the unexpected but City must be braced for Arsenal response
Manchester City won the tactical battle against Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley
Pep Guardiola outwitted Mikel Arteta as Manchester City beat Arsenal to win the Carabao Cup at Wembley on Sunday
Manchester City’s triumph over Arsenal on Sunday may have come as a surprise to many.
Pep Guardiola’s side had not won in three games prior, while Arsenal were off the back of wins against Everton and Bayer Leverkusen. In the perfect moment, as he has done across the stretch of his career, City’s manager devised the perfect kryptonite to Mikel Arteta’s largely successful framework.
It was a shock to the system for the Gunners, and led to an almost one-sided affair between the two. The craft of anticipation has kept Pep at the pinnacle for over a decade, and when he gets it right it is a stunning spectacle.
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From the first minute, Guardiola had City lined up in a 4-2-4 formation without the ball. Jeremy Doku, Erling Haaland, Rayan Cherki, and Antoine Semenyo all occupied the gap between Arsenal’s defence and their two deep midfielders.
One may think quickly playing through that is the simple solution, however Guardiola ordered City not to press aggressively, if at all. As a result, Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi were forced to drop deeper, leaving Rodri and Bernardo Silva to crowd the areas surrounding Arsenal’s attackers. This hindered Arsenal’s progression.
Arteta’s side opted for several failed long balls, and ultimately looked rudderless. More often than not, this is where City regained possession. Nathan Ake and Abdukodir Khusanov won duels and allowed City to hit back at Arsenal in suffocating waves.
There are an absolute multitude of methods to Guardiola’s offensive formulas, but the one that came to the fore on Sunday was the combination of Matheus Nunes, Rayan Cherki, and Antoine Semenyo. Arsenal left-back Piero Hincapie was booked just 16 minutes in, and was left on until after the hour and City pounced. On the opposite flank, Nico O’Reilly was under strict instruction by Guardiola to deploy less chess-natured tactics, and impose physical ones.
Speaking to CBS, O’Reilly explained: “Pep did say to me before the game that Zubimendi was going to be man-marking me tight. He said, ‘you’re stronger than him, bigger than him… so go and win those headers.’”
While just one of O’Reilly’s goals came from outmuscling Zubimendi, the other came from the exact same scenario against Bukayo Saka. City overloaded the right-hand side, Cherki and Nunes sent over crosses and O’Reilly was there to finish the job.
It makes football look so simple, yet simultaneously convoluted. The bad news from a City standpoint is Arteta has the opportunity to think of a solution before their Premier League showdown next month. Arteta may look to disorient City with a quicker approach in building up from the back.
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At one point in the final, City’s front line were staring at Arsenal’s defence holding the ball for longer than 30 seconds. A faster approach would restrict City’s ability to regain shape in time, and open space to exploit the risk created in committing the likes of Nunes and O’Reilly forward. In finding this space, Arteta could look to a different winger profile on the left to Leandro Trossard to set City on the back foot.
Bypassing the pace of Khusanov is no easy feat, but the likes of Gabriel Martinelli and Eberechi Eze could unlock more secure progression for Arsenal. It will all add up to fascinating fixture on April 19.