Arsenal Vs Manchester City: Press or protect?

In Sunday’s Carabao Cup final against Manchester City, Arsenal have a decision to make: Should they press their opponents high up the pitch or should they sit deep, protect the defence and look to counter-attack? Here, I discuss the pros and cons of both strategies.

Arsenal have the chance to win the first trophy of the year. Sunday’s Carabao Cup final sees the Gunners travel to Wembley for their fourth final in just five years. They won the other three. So why not this one?

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Well, there is a very easy answer to that. In lifting the Carabao Cup, the Gunners will have to overcome the slight hurdle of one Manchester City. They pose quite the conundrum for Arsene Wenger to solve. They pose quite a conundrum for any team. They have only lost three games in all competitions this season, including only once in the Premier League. Beating them is not an enviable task.

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There are two prevailing theories when it comes to disrupting the controlled, commanding, creative possessional play of City: Protect, which induces City to enjoy their midfield mastery but can cause vulnerabilities on the break, or press, implementing a high-energy strategy that forces mistakes from the City defenders high up the pitch, suffocating their service and engineering openings against an open and exposed defence.

The question of which is better is not easy to answer. Wigan, for example, had just 18% possession in their win over the impending champions on Monday night, a loss that could incite quite the backlash on Sunday. Liverpool, meanwhile, enjoyed much of their success against City precisely because of the pressure that they were able to place on City throughout the pitch.

While City will win almost every game that they play, two different teams have beaten them with two different styles. So, which one should Arsenal use?

Well, I would suggest that they need to adopt an amalgamation of both. Certainly, it is unfeasible to expect them to play an aggressive, front-footed style throughout the whole of the 90 minutes. Players simply are not fit enough to be able to play at such an intensity and City possess the quality to work through tired legs late on.

Equally, however, if Arsenal sit off City for large portions of the game, relinquishing possession and allowing Guardiola’s side to dictate play, then they will only be inviting unrelenting pressure upon themselves. The wave and wave of City attack would eventually unpick even the most disciplined and resolute of defences.

And so, it seems obvious to me that Arsenal must do both: At times, they must sit deeper in their positions, ensure that their distances between one another are close and constant, and repel the City attacks; at others, they must choose their moments to press, hard, as a collective and cohesive unit, squeezing City into uncomfortable situations, forcing errant distribution and opening up vulnerabilities.

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If they can do them well and do them at the right time, then Arsenal have a chance. If they can’t, then it could be a very long 90 minutes indeed.