After Metropolis scored, they took a defensive strategy in contrast to one Guardiola has opted for beforehand.
They sat deep and blocked the centre of the pitch, making it troublesome for Arsenal to seek out striker Viktor Gyokeres or attacking midfielders between the strains. Guardiola has sometimes requested his staff to defend in a 4-4-2 and did to start with, however Metropolis moved right into a 5-4-1 or 5-5-0 as the sport progressed.
So why did he go for this strategy?
This was the third sport in seven days for an unchanged Metropolis facet who have been fatigued, in keeping with Guardiola. Most groups would battle to stifle Arsenal’s glorious build-up play, however with Metropolis tiring, defending deep prevented them from being uncovered attempting to press Arsenal.
It wasn’t nearly stopping the build-up, however stopping Arsenal creating possibilities.
Arteta’s males ultimately bought their equaliser but it surely was telling the purpose got here from a direct ball over a Metropolis defence that had stepped up, slightly than when the guests sat deep.
Arsenal dominated the ball, however the 68% possession they’d amounted to 0.61 anticipated targets within the second half.
The Gunners have performed by the center this season with Martin Zubimendi and Riccardo Calafiori key to this, earlier than releasing their direct attackers.
Metropolis aimed to nullify Arsenal’s harmful central high quality by placing quite a few our bodies in the midst of the pitch. Additionally they aimed to nullify runners by lowering the area they’d in behind by being near their very own purpose.
It’s unlikely Metropolis will play that deep constantly going ahead, but it surely was attention-grabbing to see such an attacking supervisor like Guardiola deploy a form and not using a recognised striker, given his earlier quotes in regards to the formation.
“In prehistoric instances, now and in 100,000 years, it’s at all times very troublesome to assault a 5-5 formation,” have been his phrases when going through the same tactical gameplan deployed by Atletico Madrid in 2022.
Finally it was a mixture of acknowledging Metropolis’s fatigue and robust counter-attackers, whereas desirous to minimise Arsenal’s high quality – significantly the house facet’s directness, build-up and central attackers – that assist clarify the distinctive strategy.
