Arsenal: 4 talking points from Man City disasterclass

3. Total Lack of Organisation

While everyone agrees that City was the clear favorites heading into the clash, Arsenal still had their part to play – except they didn’t. Defensively the Gunners looked like an amateur side, not one that is in the Premier League. Sitting bottom of the table, there is a strong case to make for there being 19 better defenses in the division.

The ease in which City was able to waltz through the midfield, bypass the ‘press’ and pull defenders out of position was laughable. This comes down to what Arteta does on the training ground. So many times Chambers and Cedric did not know when to come and press and when to sit back, causing mass confusion. That’s mostly on Arteta and how he sets his teams up.

With City in possession, Arsenal swilted and did not put up any semblance of a fight in a match that they were seriously outgunned in. There were acres of space for Jack Grealish and co to sit on the ball and wait for an opportunity to present itself, which it did on numerous occasions. Spaces between the lines were vacated and the roaming playmakers had the freedom of Manchester.

Often we see teams that go down a man stay compact and tight in their defensive formation and even play better with one less player. For Arsenal, it went the other way and they effectively were put into submission by City. Nobody knew when to squeeze, push or who to cover, even with 11 men.

Arsenal was amateurish in how it went about its work defensively, with no leader of communicators in that defence speaking to one another, or crucially the goalkeeper, to prepare for the onslaught.