Manchester City expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany has suggested that even Pep Guardiola has 'flaws' that were somewhat exposed in Sunday's 2-2 draw with Arsenal in the Premier League.
To the surprise of many who had predicted another tight, low-scoring contest between these two title challengers, a pulsating, action-packed showdown was for all to see at the Etihad Stadium, with the Citizens snatching what could prove to be a precious point deep in stoppage time.
Arsenal cancelled out Erling Haaland's 100th Man City goal thanks to strikes from Riccardo Calafiori and Gabriel Magalhaes, but they entered the half-time interval a man down following the Leandro Trossard's dismissal for two bookable offences.
McInerney has admitted that he, like many other Man City supporters, were left frustrated by their inability to break down Arsenal's low block, with Guardiola content for much of a dominant second half to see defenders including Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias and Manuel Akanji dictating play on the edge of the area and having shots from range - a tactical approach Arsenal were also happy to accept from their opponents.
In the closing stages, Guardiola opted to bring on Phil Foden, Jack Grealish and John Stones, with Grealish playing a key role in forcing City's 98th-minute equaliser eventually scrambled into the back of the net by Stones from close range.
The draw for Man City means that they have returned to the Premier League summit, sitting one point above Liverpool in second and two clear of Arsenal in fourth, but McInerney feels that the Gunners "were there for the taking" and has come away from the match feeling "disappointed" with City's second-half approach.
McInerney: 'Guardiola went into full-on conservative mode'
Speaking exclusively to Sports Mole, McInerney said: "If you move all the noise away, a point is never bad against your title rivals, especially when it keeps you at the top of the table.
"I do feel, as a City fan, we probably could have won that if things have gone a little bit different. I was a little bit disappointed by City and Guardiola. I do feel Arsenal, despite their brilliant defence, were there for the taken and I feel Guardiola went into full-on conservative Guardiola mode. He was far too scared of the potential of a counter-attack from absolutely no one it turned out.
"I feel we had the wrong people in front of goal for 50 minutes of that second half. Eventually, it's weird to say we got away with it because we probably deserve a point on balance, but it did feel like that at the end. The only thing I can take from [the game] is probably an emotional victory, because Arsenal were dead on their feet at the end, despite getting a point away at City and defending really well.
"It looked like it hurt them a little bit, because it didn't feel like it was enough again, despite their best efforts. Maybe they don't feel that way, but that's the way it came across to me at the end of the game. City looks pretty fired up and frustrated, and usually we channel that quite well."
McInerney added: "I can't help but feel that Man City didn't set up right at all in the second half. I'm not going to try to teach Guardiola how to suck eggs - he's the best in the world probably - but there's not a single person in the world that doesn't have flaws and it was pretty obvious to everyone.
"I feel slightly vindicated because a professional footballer I know texted me during the match and said: 'I agree with what you're saying' as they were watching and getting frustrated too.
McInerney 'frustrated' by Man City's second-half approach
"The issue was having the wrong people trying to do the wrong things. It felt [City] needed to invert a little bit. It came very obviously, in my opinion, within 15 minutes that Arsenal had absolutely zero intention of getting forward. They had everyone behind the ball (in the second half). They didn't even leave a token player up the pitch. There was no one. They had 10 people behind the ball.
"What they left is City centre-backs - and we have a lot of them on the pitch - trying to pull the strings against the best martialled defence, probably in the world right now. A phenomenal defence that Arsenal have got.
"When you need to break down a defence like that, it often comes down to individual brilliance. You have to have a little moment of magic, someone to put it in from 20 yards, or someone to beat a player out wide.
"[Against Arsenal] you felt like so much of the ball was falling to Ruben Dias, [Mateo] Kovacic - famously not a very good goalscorer, one a season at best, but usually pretty good goals when he does score, but he's not going to get you a goal when you're desperate - and then Kyle Walker, famously not a great goalscorer either, and often [Manuel] Akanji as well. It felt like those guys were the ones who had the ball in front of Arsenal, and that must have been absolutely beautiful for Arteta to see.
"I was screaming internally for them just to switch positions, leave Walker at the back because he's really fast. If you want to, let Akanji and Dias drift into the box and let Foden and Gundogan and people like that be outside the box, trying tricky one-twos and trying to get past people or whipping crosses to the big guys alongside Haaland. I was screaming for something to be a little bit different.
"I did a rough totting-up of the shots attempted by our centre-backs and it was around 15-16, shots. Some of them were blocked, of course, but if that's your tactic, you've got to get a little bit lucky."
Foden, Lewis could have made difference for Man City
McInerney believes that Man City should have brought on Rico Lewis, and the likes of Grealish and Foden sooner, as well as considered using Savinho on the left flank to link up with Josko Gvardiol.
"I feel in the end, the only one who really changed things was Jack Grealish, forcing it to the corner and driving at people," said McInerney. "I was sat there thinking just switch it around, get Gundogan, get Foden outside of the box. Maybe stretch the pitch; Savinho on the left with overlapping full-backs, let [Josko] Gvardiol go outside of him.
"Bring on Rico Lewis who Guardiola said is an absolute genius "in the pockets", in those tight spaces. He spent the whole week talking about the importance of Phil Foden and Rico Lewis to break down defences like that, and the vast majority of the game there were nowhere to be seen, [until] Foden came on late in the game.
"It felt that Arsenal just needed a challenge and we didn't really give them it. Ultimately, we got the draw, so it's not like the end of the world, but it did feel we were far too cautious. I don't feel it was just me feeling that way. It felt frustrating watching the City bang their head against the wall willingly."
Man City will not play Arsenal in the reverse fixture at the Emirates Stadium until February 1 of next year, while Guardiola's side are next in action in the EFL Cup against Championship outfit Watford on Tuesday night. body check tags ::
