Thread by @EBL2017

Let me let you in on a little secret - Mikel Arteta's Arsenal did NOT go to the Etihad to sit back behind the ball. That was not the plan.

City simply forced them back, but Arsenal are one of the few teams who can excel when plan A fails.

They are ELITE defensively.

THREAD! 🚨

So, what was the plan?

How did Mikel Arteta's Arsenal, a team who so often dominate games with the ball average 27% possession

In the past, they have even dominated City possession-wise when they averaged 64% of the ball against them at the Emirates last season.

What changed?!

Well, not much. Arteta set his team up as normal. Look at how brave Arsenal are positionally in this moment, for example, as they use Raya as a situational centre back to form a back four.

They also pressed using the same principles they always use.

Pep's City, though, changed.

With Stones & Walker injured, it wasn't entirely clear how City would set up.

What seemed most likely was a 4-2-4 across the phases like Pep used at the Etihad last season against Arsenal OR the typical 3-2-5 with Akanji inverted into midfield instead of Stones.

He did neither.

I did not expect this pre-game.

I didn't think Guardiola would risk trying an entirely new strategy in a game which he described as a 'final', but he did.

So, what did he do?

Well, like last time against Arsenal at the Emirates, he changed the build-up structure entirely.

This saw City build play in a multitude of shapes.

What was consistent about their build-up, though, was Kovačić dropping to LCB.

This saw City build in their typical 4-2-5 with Ortega as a situational centre back, Aké inverted alongside Rodri, and Días/Gvardiol pushed wide.
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This build-up shape was common & it caused Arsenal's press issues because Arteta's men did not expect to face this build-up dynamic.

They may have prepared to face the '4-2-5' with a centre back inverted into midfield & Ortega splitting, but they did not expect Kovačić to drop.

Arsenal did their best to match up in these moments, though.

The notion that they simply came to the Etihad to sit back is misinformed and overly simplistic.

Arteta's men tried to press.

They used their typical shadow marking techniques with Rice pressing the ball-side #6.

Saka even inverted & pushed as high as Kovačić in certain moments which saw Arsenal match up in man-to-man fashion.

However, City are TOP technically. Kovačić is one of those guys that is near impossible to press.

He found the spare man & Bernardo dropped to help even further..

Bernardo and Foden consistently dropped to further overload Arsenal's press and it saw City pin Arteta's men back.

This does not mean Arsenal's press was *bad*.

They prepared a compact & aggressive press, but City included an abnormal amount of (top) players in their build-up.

This saw City pin Arsenal back with regularity where they tried to create via wide triangles on each flank (Gvardiol, Kovačić, and Foden on the left and Akanji, Bernardo, and De Bruyne on the right).

Pep got what he wanted as City sustained pressure and controlled the ball.

However, as a consequence of picking so many players that are build-up oriented, City were incredibly reliant on Haaland, De Bruyne, and Foden to create in the final third.

They lacked direct 1v1 qualities in the final third with Gvardiol/Akanji failing to offer much creatively.

This wasn't the only reason they failed to create chances, though. Arteta's Arsenal are one of the most incredibly well-drilled mid-low blocks in the sport, and they have been ever since he was appointed.

We quite simply just don't see it very often.

The 4-4-2 block was elite.

Saka and Jesus also did an incredible job of helping Arsenal's midfielders and defenders to manage City's wide rotations.

If often saw them track back all the way into the last line which saw Arsenal defend with up to 6 players in defence at times.

Then, as a consequence of City consistently sustaining pressure, it forced Arsenal to go long because it was unrealistic for them to play out of City's counterpress when possession broke down deep in Arsenal's half.

As a further consequence of that, Arsenal struggled to press.

This was largely because Pep overloaded Arteta's press so heavily, but also because the physical and psychological impact of Arsenal defending deep for large periods prevented them from reliably getting out to press with aggression.

The game theme was set in stone.

Arsenal tried to adapt to become more aggressive in the second half, but it is hard to swing the momentum of the game once it has been set, particularly when the opposition are as well-drilled tactically and as press resistant as City are.

Arsenal adapted and battled to draw.