Arsenal Vs Manchester City: Bravery or foolishness?

Arsenal travel to Manchester City on Sunday. Unai Emery may look to press the champions, as the likes of Liverpool and Newcastle United have proven successful. But where does tactical bravery slip into tactical foolishness?

It is no easy task, to travel to the Etihad Stadium. But that precisely what Arsenal must do on Sunday afternoon as they venture north to face a wounded Manchester City. Pep Guardiola’s side are coming off a shock 2-1 loss to Newcastle United midweek. They will be eager to put that behind them.

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In the defeat, particularly in the second half, Rafa Benitez adopted a more similar approach to the manager of his former club, Liverpool. Jurgen Klopp has been the kryptonite of Guardiola, stemming from the when pair competed with one another in the Bundesliga, Klopp at Borussia Dortmund and Guardiola at Bayern Munich.

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Klopp’s approach to facing a Guardiola team is very different from conventional wisdom. Most admit that they are not going to win the battle of possession. Instead, they sit deep, attempt to contract the space in the middle of the pitch and hope to find space on the counter-attack. But Klopp persists with his high-pressing style: his belief is that even the best players in the world cannot consistently play accurate passes when put under pressure, and there might not be a team better suited to a high-pressing strategy than his current Liverpool one.

Benitez adopted this approach on Wednesday. It was not executed with the same panache or intensity as Klopp’s Liverpool, but Newcastle found their greatest joy when they decided to press City. You have to be a brave man to try it.

This is the problem that now faces Unai Emery. Emery, like Klopp and Guardiola, wants his teams to press high up the pitch. He understands the game-changing impact that pressure can have, both on a system and on individuals. But just how brave does he want to be on Sunday? How high will Arsenal press? And for how long?

Such is the ball-retention quality of City, it is impossible to pressure them for 90 minutes. There is simply too much ground to cover and the spaces open up later on in games — there is a reason Spain scored so many late goals, for instance. So Emery cannot fully commit to a gung-ho, all-out, pressure-all style. But at the same time, as has been proven time and time, sitting back and waiting does not work.

And this is the crux of the problem: When does a brave tactic like pressing high up the pitch turn into a foolish one? At what point does it shift from being a progressive, beneficial gameplan to a detrimental one?

Emery will have to determine just how brave he wants to be. And his players will have to adapt in the game. The fine line between courage and stupidity is not stationary. But if Arsenal want to win, they will have to be bold. There is no other way.