As an Arsenal fan, it’s been a tough journey watching our manager lose seven out of the eight games against his old mentor Pep Guardiola. But I refuse to give up hope, and I believe that this FA Cup tie might just shed a little more light on what our manager, needs to do in order to not lose the ninth and tenth games against City.
The 2020 FA Cup final was the one game in which Arteta triumphed over Guardiola, and while it was in an empty stadium due to Covid, it was still a momentous occasion for Arsenal fans. But since then, we’ve suffered six more defeats against City, and this most recent one was particularly tough to swallow.
Arteta decided to match City man-to-man all over the pitch, which meant that there was no cover in the most dangerous areas and our centerbacks were forced to win their battles individually with Erling Haaland. While Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba did well, it was just a shame that we let Jack Grealish slip away at the critical moment and he created the winning goal for Nathan Ake.
It was also a blow to lose Thomas Partey at halftime due to a blow to the ribs that caused a “discomfort that was getting worse and worse”, as Arteta stated. Partey’s fitness is more important to Arsenal than the FA Cup, but it’s still disappointing to see him have to leave the game early.
The difference between the two clubs is the depth of the squad, and it’s clear that City have the upper hand in that aspect. But as an Arsenal fan, I refuse to give up hope and I know that Arteta will continue to strategize and come up with a plan to defeat City in the future.
Guardiola was surprised by Arteta’s man-to-man approach and said “now I know they can do it” as he contemplates the future challenges that City will face against Arsenal. And while we may have suffered four defeats this season, only one of them being in the Premier League, I have faith that Arteta will lead our team to success in the future.
We may be out of both domestic knockout competitions now, but with a place in the last 16 of the Europa League, there’s still hope for our team to achieve greatness. And I’ll be cheering them on every step of the way, because as an Arsenal fan, I’ll never give up on my team.
