Manchester City’s bluntness against Inter may give Arteta’s Arsenal ideas

Pep Guardiola had made up his mind. The Manchester City manager had realized his strategy a few minutes before the half-time whistle blew during the Champions League match against Inter Milan at the Etihad Stadium. As soon as the whistle sounded, he rushed to the locker room, excited to set his plan into motion.

This is a key aspect of Guardiola's brilliance: his talent for recognizing when and where things start to go wrong and making the necessary adjustments. In this instance, things were not going in City's favor. They seemed stuck and struggled to find rhythm or precision. There was a distinct sense of fragility about their performance.

Inter exuded confidence, though they struggled to find the back of the net. They constructed their plays steadily from the defense and managed to break through City during counterattacks. Guardiola was particularly concerned when one of his players lost the ball without any teammates nearby to help.

Inter's tight 5-3-2 formation was both suffocating and oddly fascinating. Their players moved quickly from side to side, making it difficult for City to maintain possession and forcing them to play at a rapid pace, which they struggled with. Meanwhile, Inter's forwards, Marcus Thuram and Mehdi Taremi, put pressure on Rodri, disrupting City's midfield orchestrator and preventing him from connecting the plays.

Guardiola has encountered this challenge previously and will likely encounter it again, including on Sunday when City squares off against Arsenal in a crucial early-season match for the Premier League title race. Last season, Arsenal adopted a defensive strategy at the Etihad, walking away with a scoreless draw in March that felt more like a victory for them.

Will they take a similar strategy? It seems likely they might, particularly with their key player Martin Ødegaard unavailable due to injury. Mikel Arteta seemed to prioritize making his Arsenal side difficult to defeat when they faced Tottenham on Sunday, focusing on a solid defense as the foundation for their 1-0 victory. If this tactic proved successful against Spurs, especially after similar results at the Etihad…

It's clear that Arteta will carefully analyze every detail of Inter's performance and draw inspiration from it. When Guardiola was asked if the Arsenal match would be similar, he said he wasn't sure; it would depend on how he interprets Arteta's tactics and responds accordingly. However, he noted, "They're an incredibly strong team. They defend exceptionally well, rarely allowing chances or goals, and excel in various areas; they have everything under control." Essentially, this seemed to suggest that the match could indeed resemble that of Inter.

Guardiola’s remarks to Inter during the halftime break revealed some of the team's internal dynamics. Kevin De Bruyne picked up an injury in the 44th minute after colliding with Inter's goalkeeper, Yann Sommer, which raises concerns about his availability for the upcoming match against Arsenal.

However, Guardiola would have substituted him anyway and shifted Bernardo Silva from the other central attacking midfield spot, placing him on the right while Savinho made room. Guardiola aimed to have his quickest midfielders in that crowded space, which led to the introductions of Phil Foden and Ilkay Gündogan. Rico Lewis was instructed to advance and move inward from the right-back position.

"We were really looking for players who can maneuver well in tight spaces," Guardiola explained. "Rico, Phil, and Gündo are the best options we have for that role. They excel in those narrow areas. Given how Inter set up their defense, I had been considering this substitution for about 35 or 40 minutes. Then, when Kevin’s injury happened and the doctor informed me he wasn’t fit to continue, it just reinforced my thoughts about making that change at halftime."

Guardiola aimed to position Foden so he could turn and take a shot, while also wanting Gündogan to move into the six-yard box. Both situations occurred, but not with the results he hoped for. This might have been the main lesson learned from the match against Arsenal.

In the 69th minute, Foden took a shot directly at Sommer after Gündogan set him up in a packed box; if he had aimed to either side, he would have likely scored. Gündogan also missed two header opportunities during stoppage time after getting onto crosses, and the match ended with a score of 0-0. In games like this, every tactical detail becomes crucial, and the margins for error are incredibly slim. It’s all about making decisive moves. City needs to be sharp and focused on Sunday.

There's one more important topic to address. Rodri has been very vocal about the problem of player burnout, suggesting that players might consider striking as a possibility if their schedules become even more packed, especially with the addition of two more group stage matches in the revamped Champions League format.

So far this season, Rodri has played in just one game, and the same goes for Gündogan, while Foden has come on for two 45-minute stints as a substitute. Are Manchester City adequately prepared in the midfield for this crucial challenge? Arsenal comes into this match with an impressive away record for the year, having played 11 league games, winning 10 and only drawing once. That draw was at the Etihad, and City will be looking to change the outcome this time around.