Gary Neville has praised Manchester City’s approach during their 1-1 draw against Arsenal – even though Pep Guardiola admitted it made him “suffer”.
Erling Haaland’s slick ninth-minute finish at Emirates Stadium looked enough to earn City a statement Premier League victory in north London.
Guardiola reverted to a back five in the second half in an effort to secure all three points and as a result his team set a record lowest share of possession during his tenure with only 32.8 per cent. But it was not enough to seal victory as Gabriel Martinelli struck in stoppage time for the Gunners.
However, Neville was impressed by City’s shift from possession-heavy dominance to a more direct, physical style against Arsenal.
Nev: Pep has done a 180 on tactics
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Highlights from Arsenal’s match against Man City in the Premier League
“It was not a game I was expecting,” Neville told The Gary Neville Podcast. “I was expecting it to be tough in the sense that both teams know each other, and I think Arsenal, we know how they play in respect to their defensive strength and they don’t give a lot of chances away.
“I thought that it might be hard to create moments but how it played out, obviously City getting the early goal and then Pep resorting to a way of playing that I’ve never seen before, but I really liked it.
“It wasn’t a criticism when I was talking during the game, I really enjoyed the fact that he went to 5-4-1. He decided that he was just going to manage the game without the ball, and play on the counter-attack with only one forward on the pitch in the end. He had four midfield players and five defenders, and they looked so comfortable. There was just nothing happening at all and then obviously that late moment happened and the spoils are shared.”
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Gianluigi Donnarumma was a key figure for Man City in combatting Arsenal’s set-piece dominance
On City’s shift in tactics against Arsenal, Neville added: “I think the reason Pep’s done that is that he is recognising that Arsenal are a one-trick pony.
“Set-pieces are just such a large percentage of their chances and goals that you end up in a situation where you’ve just got to have big players in the box and a goalkeeper who comes and punches, and if you don’t, you’re going to get beat up on corners and set-pieces and free-kicks.
“So, I think it was a response to that and knowing what Arteta would do, that they would press hard, they would get more corners, they would get more play and he’s got nine giants on the pitch just to be able to head it, and they did it absolutely perfectly. At one point every time a long throw-in came in and every time a corner came in it was almost as if they were saying ‘more’, we will deal with that, there’s no problems whatsoever.
“But it was unusual because I always remember going back to Pep Guardiola’s first season in England and it wasn’t a successful season if you remember. They didn’t win the league in that first season and he said that the reason that they were conceding, he said it wasn’t because they didn’t have the physicality, it was because they didn’t keep the ball well enough.
“Then beyond that for the last six, seven, eight years we’ve just seen them dominate possession, less so maybe in the last two years, but when they were at their absolute best you knew they’d be 1-0 up but they’d have 70, 80 per cent of the ball and the other team would be chasing shadows and you’d be able to get nowhere.
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Pep Guardiola admitted Man City’s defensive style made him ‘suffer’
“This is a completely different Manchester City; it’s a complete turnaround. It’s a 180 and to see him do that in the final parts of the game, the idea of adapting, there’s a lot of questions asked of managers about do they adapt and are they agile enough if things change in games.
“Guardiola never really changed his way of playing, it was almost as if to say everyone has to adapt to what I’m doing and everybody copied him for years and years, playing out from the back, but he’s moved on beyond that now and they are certainly a lot more physical, a lot more direct, less football than they used to be.
“I know he loves football but maybe he has adapted because of the players he has. He’s recruited those players, and they are more physical. They haven’t got the technical ability of David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne and all those players we’ve seen in the last few years. Don’t get me wrong, there’s still some really good players out there for City but it’s a different Manchester City and I enjoy it.”
Did Pep ‘park the bus’?
Analysis from Sky Sports’ Nick Wright at the Emirates Stadium:
Pep Guardiola smiled when it was put to him that he had “parked the bus” in his post-match press conference at the Emirates Stadium. “One time in 10 years isn’t bad,” joked the Manchester City boss.
His side recorded just 32.8 per cent possession in their 1-1 draw with Arsenal, the lowest share of the ball by a Guardiola team in any league game in his 601-game top-flight career in management.
Guardiola put it down to Arsenal’s quality rather than a deliberate tactical ploy. Maybe there was some truth in that given the second-lowest percentage share of his managerial career came against the same opponent two years ago.
But he also pointed to the context of a gruelling week for his players, with Arsenal having had two days more rest than City, who beat Napoli in the Champions League on Thursday, having won the Manchester derby the previous Sunday.
There was also an acceptance that his new-look team are still finding their way, and that the changes in personnel in recent months demand certain adjustments to their style. Erling Haaland’s goal showed the increased emphasis on direct attacks. The lack of possession, though, was something different entirely.
Guardiola defends City’s back-five approach
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Guardiola felt Arsenal were the better team but praised his players for their resilience after a demanding week for the club
Guardiola admitted he did not like watching City defend for long periods but praised their resilience after they set a surprise record in the 1-1 draw at Arsenal.
“I cannot believe in this country with another record, I am so proud of that,” Guardiola said with a smile after his team set a new mark for their lowest share of possession during his tenure.
“I give a lot of credit to Arsenal, a lot of credit. Sometimes you want it, sometimes you can’t.
“It is really good, especially defending five. [We’re] not built for that, but we have to accept it and if the team has that percentage, it is because they are better.
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Gabriel Martinelli produced a magical strike for Arsenal in stoppage time to level against Man City
“Arsenal were better in that time so we don’t want it but sometimes it happens. OK one time in 10 years is not bad, right?”
Even though City struggled to keep the ball in this latest battle with rivals Arsenal, Guardiola has seen enough over the past week to have an air of confidence that his eight-time Premier League champions are close to being back to their best.
Back-to-back defeats in August threatened to ruin Guardiola’s attempt to rebuild a new title-winning machine, but last Sunday’s 3-0 derby success over Manchester United was followed by a midweek 2-0 triumph over Napoli in the Champions League before this steely display in London.
Asked if he liked watching his team defend, Guardiola admitted: “No, I suffer, I don’t like. I want the ball away, away, away now. I want to be close to (David) Raya, but the opponents do good things, you have to accept it and from that we improve.
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A stunning strike from Erling Haaland gave Manchester City the lead after nine minutes
“We improve about the body language. How we celebrate, how we are communicating and how we make the effort for the other one. We lost it a lot last season.
“And this season I said I don’t give a (makes beep noise) about the result, I want to see the spirit back, the training sessions and enjoy. Then after tactics.
“We lost it last season and we have to recover. This week we recover and then you have to continue.
“From then we learn the process, the tactics and a little bit our way that we feel more comfortable to be close to win games and be proud of ourselves and our people.
“Tough week and especially against a team that is by far one of the best, if not the best in Europe. Our resilience was fantastic otherwise you cannot survive.”