Arsenal vs Manchester City: Did we really expect anything else?

Arsenal may not have been completely overwhelmed against Manchester City, but the match was unsurprising and predictable in the end.

It wasn’t really the beating I, and many others, were expecting, but yet again, it was another flat performance against one of the top six away from home. 48 seconds was all it took for Manchester City to expose our defence and even the most optimistic of Arsenal fans must have been thinking this could lead to another heavy defeat, even more so when Aymeric Laporte had a goal disallowed a few minutes later.

In fairness to Arsenal, we did give a good account of ourselves for the majority of the first half and we looked dangerous on the break and quite organised at the back, as Unai Emery stuck to his word that his side would attack Manchester City.

But as per the old Arsenal, we switched off for the second goal and Sergio Aguero had an easy tap in, which I think completely knocked the players momentum.

The second half was as flat as a performance as you will see all season as we mustered exactly zero attempts and Manchester City had 14. If it wasn’t for Bernd Leno in goal, then we could have been on the end of a five or six goal deficit.

I’m not exaggerating when I say that this defence is Division 1 standard. Time and time again when Manchester City attacked, the amount of space afforded to players in and around the penalty area was something you would see in amateur football. It’s all well and good wanting new defenders but if these players aren’t taught how to read the game then we are going to be looking at the same situation.

Unai Emery clearly changed his plan for the second half, and instead decided to try to soak up the Manchester City pressure and hit them on the break.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

• 3 standout players from 1-0 victory over Everton
• 3 positives & negatives from Goodison Park victory
• Arsenal vs PSV preview: Prediction, team news & lineups
• 3 talking points from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park
• Mikel Arteta provides Gabriel Martinelli injury update after Everton win

It failed miserably.

We offered zero creativity to our two forwards in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette and effectively ended up playing a 6-4-0 formation.

I have to comment on the performance of Alex Iwobi, too, as again he was so frustrating. He can run at players but he is so indecisive on the ball and costs us in attacking scenarios, his end product is severely lacking also.

Unai Emery clearly rates Iwobi but I fail to see why these things aren’t being worked on in training to take him to the next level.

One positive we can look at is the performance of Matteo Guendouzi. Again he excelled in a big game and in the first half he won the ball back more than any other Arsenal player and didn’t lose possession once. In two, three years he can definitely be in the top three midfielders in England. I just hope he’s stuck with the club.

So another disappointing defeat, but we are still three points outside the top four with a month of winnable games coming up. But it’s in the games against the top four that Arsenal need to assert themselves more, because if we are going to continue to put in performances like this then what is the point in turning up.