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Match Day Thread Manchester City vs Arsenal - Matchday Thread

Discussion in 'Arsenal' started by BrunelGunner, Apr 22, 2023.

  1. BrunelGunner

    BrunelGunner Well-Known Member
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    Venue: Etihad Stadium
    Date: Wednesday 26th April 2023
    KO time: 20:00 BST

    Overall Record

    Wins: 98
    Losses: 64
    Draws: 45

    Last six meetings

    Arsenal 1-3 Manchester City
    Manchester City 1-0 Arsenal (FA Cup)
    Arsenal 1-2 Manchester City
    Manchester City 5-0 Arsenal
    Arsenal 0-1 Manchester City
    Arsenal 1-4 Manchester City (League Cup)

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    #1
  2. BrunelGunner

    BrunelGunner Well-Known Member
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    Well, I think it’s safe to say season is done now. Rob Holding against Haaland will be an absolute mismatch.
     
    #2
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  3. BrunelGunner

    BrunelGunner Well-Known Member
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    I’ve just seen our record against City since 2017 and it’s an absolute abomination <doh>. We have 1 win in all competitions against them in the last 15 meetings. We’ve lost the other 14.

    Absolutely deplorable. I’m sure we will buck the trend at some point, but I don’t imagine it will be tomorrow night.
     
    #3
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  4. BrunelGunner

    BrunelGunner Well-Known Member
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    Holding starts? Oh brother.

    Meanwhile, I think it’s harsh Trossard isn’t starting. But we move.
     
    #4
  5. cini65

    cini65 Well-Known Member

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    10/11ths full-strength. So close to perfection. But that one absentee is so important. Bugger.
     
    #5
  6. BrunelGunner

    BrunelGunner Well-Known Member
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    They’re so much better than us, it hurts. We did well to get to this position, but they’re showing us levels this game. They are just far too good. And Pep has sussed out what we were going to do. Arteta’s been outclassed tonight.

    Just have to make sure we’re not on the receiving end of a massacre and that we keep the scoreline respectable.
     
    #6
  7. PINKIE

    PINKIE Wurzel Gummidge

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    We ****ed it up with those draws against West Ham and Southampton. City are just doing what City do now, they are a class act and De Bruyne and Halaand are in a different class.
     
    #7
  8. BrunelGunner

    BrunelGunner Well-Known Member
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    This is brutal to watch. Honestly. We are being utterly dismantled. Heads have gone.
     
    #8
  9. cini65

    cini65 Well-Known Member

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    Not much we can do about this as they're so good. But same vibes as last year with everything falling apart at Spurs and Newcastle. 10 goals conceded in 4 games. Rob Holding might not obviously be the weak link and he's not the only reason this is happening. But he is so **** it's painful.

    Shame that such a good season is over with a month still to go. Champions sorted. Top four sorted. Relegation is about the only interesting story left now.
     
    #9
  10. straycat_67

    straycat_67 Well-Known Member

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    I think deep down we all knew we wouldn't have the steam to go all the way especially seeing how city have hit their stride this past few weeks. Tonight just shows we are a team in the making and purely apprentices to city.
     
    #10

  11. BrunelGunner

    BrunelGunner Well-Known Member
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    Brighton losing tonight means Arsenal have officially qualified for the Champions League next season.

    Every cloud….
     
    #11
  12. cini65

    cini65 Well-Known Member

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    It's depressing in isolation. But we were eons behind Liverpool last season and are now ahead of them. So change isn't always as far away as isolated games can necessarily make out. But **** me, they're so good. And we're so weak in certain positions outside the first choice.
     
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  13. BrunelGunner

    BrunelGunner Well-Known Member
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    Don't know what to say about that.

    We were outclassed from minute 1, but I do feel like we should have tweaked a few things to have maximised our chances of getting a result. Whilst Arteta's shown this season why he's improved exponentially as a manager, he still has a lot to learn. Playing the same system and tactics with different personnel against a City team who are ruthless in transition and can exploit any gaps in a high press (which wasn't even implemented properly) with slow players was just totally naive.

    Subs should have come on a lot sooner, not when we were 3-0 down.

    We've had a lot of players let us down the past few games - Ramsdale, Holding, Gabriel, Zinchenko, Jesus, Partey, Xhaka, even Saka has been underpar...too many players have crumbled at the same time and now we've blown our chance this season to win the title.

    Although it doesn't feel like it, we've made serious progress this year. But clearly, there is still a lot of work to do.

    We need another top Summer transfer window.
     
    #13
  14. TheBear

    TheBear Well-Known Member

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    Honestly - I think the tactical arguments/conversations that people are having over this match are kinda invalid.

    Since Saliba has gone out we've been conceding around 3 goals a game. Over double what it was with him in the side.
    It's not just his ability to pass out, he seems to have a calming influence on Gabriel and White.

    Holding is a great guy but he's a mid table CB at best. This injury really showed a gap in the squad. In order to win the league these days even your bench needs to be TOP class.

    Saka has been poor for 4-5 games now. Im not sure if he's just having a slump or wether he's carrying an injury.

    Partey has also been on a poor run of form.

    Xhaka was clearly not 100% fit...

    Overall just a laundry list of ingredients as to why we were likely to loose this game.
     
    #14
  15. BrunelGunner

    BrunelGunner Well-Known Member
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    Although I agree that there is a distinct quality gap between our squad and theirs, I still don't believe we had the optimal chance of getting a result from that game.

    There's an argument to be had that City would beat absolutely anyone in world football with the form they're in right now, but I wanted us to make it harder for them, and instead, it was all one-way traffic.

    Arteta's constant reliance on Holding, when he is a huge problem for us in build-up and in transition, and playing a high-line, seemed totally suicidal. We should have adjusted things to account for the fact Holding cannot play the same way Saliba can. We didn't. Even Pep made some tactical tweaks and it worked to a tee.
    Zinchenko constantly inverting did nothing for us and we couldn't stretch them, I think Tierney should have come on earlier to provide some width. Meanwhile, Saka, Jesus and Martinelli were absolutely anonymous. We looked far more threatening when Trossard, Nelson and ESR came on - but we were 3-0 down, so it was damage limitation. There's an argument that they should have been onto the pitch before the game was over.

    I also think Jorginho deserved more of a chance in this game to help us control the ball better, as Partey looks like he's aged about 20 years in the last few games. He was being given the run around.

    We've lost TWELVE games in a row against City. We need to change our tactics when we play them because whenever we play this way, they always seem to slap us up.
     
    #15
  16. cini65

    cini65 Well-Known Member

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    Partey maybe being the one who was getting questioned again by the police in January maybe explain his mystery absence for a few games back then. I think his head has gone as he knows he's going down this summer and his mind is elsewhere.
     
    #16

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