Arsenal Vs Manchester City: The key tactical inconsistency exposed

Arsenal are not a pressing side. But sometimes they try to be. Against Manchester City, this key tactical inconsistency was exposed, and Arsene Wenger is to blame.

Arsene Wenger has always demanded his team’s play a particular style. He believes that if they can master a certain tactic, system, and philosophy, then their opponents will have to adapt to them. Rarely does he adapt to the threat that his Arsenal team are facing.

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Against lesser Premier League sides, it is smart management. The pattern of the games are very similar, so it makes sense to develop and enhance one style of play that can be successful in most games that follow a very comparable structure and rhythm. However, there are some games that it hinders, not helps, the progress of the team. Sunday was an example of that.

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Speaking on the brilliant Monday Night Club on BBC Radio 5 Live, Lee Dixon stated that the pressing tactic that Wenger tried to implement against Manchester City did not work because it had not been instilled over a long period of time:

"“You play [Alexis] Sanchez up front, who is a chaser of the ball; if he loses the ball then he’ll chase to win it back. If you’ve got that, as a manager, you have to have the players to go and back that up, and he didn’t have that. He hasn’t got that because they don’t know how to do that on a regular basis – they are not a pressing side <…> If you’re not a pressing side, then you have to press for months and years at a time in order to get it right, it’s really difficult. It’s not just a case of ‘you all just rush to the ball.’ <…> Just running willy-nilly at the ball is a disaster, especially against City.”"

And Dixon is absolutely spot on. Every now and then, Wenger does ask his players to start their defending higher up the pitch, pressing the ball in advanced areas in an attempt to recover possession and instigate attacks against what is more likely to be a more vulnerable and exposed defence.

On Sunday, there were moments that it worked. City, who are a team that will play through the phases no matter how much pressure they are put under, were caught on several occasions and did lose the ball in areas that Arsenal could punish them from, though they were, for the most part, unable to do so.

But it was only in fleeting moments. It was not consistently implemented throughout the 90 minutes. And even when it was, often times, it was one player here and there, primarily Alexis Sanchez, who Wenger started ahead of Alexandre Lacazette in the central striking position to utilise his chasing ability, which City can easily circumnavigate with space to work in and out of. Pressing must be done systematically. It must be done as a connected and cohesive effort. It cannot be done by rogue individuals.

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Now, some would argue that Arsenal are a better team when they play at a higher intensity. And I would agree with them. But it cannot be introduced inconsistently throughout the season. As Dixon stated, it takes time. Otherwise, as on Sunday, it will be exposed. Wenger, evidently, has not put that time in.