Mikel Arteta is no stranger to facing Manchester City with 10 men, but Sunday’s 2-2 draw at the Etihad marks the first time his Arsenal side have avoided defeat in such a situation.
Despite criticism of the Gunners’ decision to adopt a 6-3 formation and absorb pressure in the second half, Arteta felt the result vindicated his tactics, stating he’d have been “thick” not to learn from past experiences.
Facing the media ahead of Wednesday’s Carabao Cup clash with Bolton, the manager reflected: “We had to play the game that we had to play and the first 10, 15 minutes we couldn’t 11 against 11, then we did much better and then obviously we were thrown into a very different context.
“Every team does [that]. They [City] played 30 seconds with 10 men [after Rodri’s injury] and you look what they did, it’s normal what they did for 30 seconds. We have to do it in a different way.
“We learn from the past as well because unfortunately, we’ve been in that situation with them three times very recently.
“One it was with Granit [Xhaka getting red carded in 2021] after 37, 38 minutes. And we conceded how many? [Five] So, yeah, we better learn. If not, we’ll be very thick. I will be very thick.”
The Gunners rearguard action came after an enthralling first half in which Erling Haaland’s opener had been cancelled out by Riccardo Calafiori before Gabriel Magalhaes’ added to his reputation as a penalty box threat with another thumping header from a corner. It looked as though the Brazilian’s goal might lead to three points until John Stones equalised at the death.
Asked about his player’s effort, Arteta continued: “Extremely proud. I think the team, the desire that they have to compete in any context, to win, to adapt to different circumstances, different competition, different way of playing and handle that emotionally and physically the way we’ve done is superb.
“Am I Happy? No, because we wanted to win the three games [against Sp*rs, Atalanta & City], but understanding how tough that context is and how difficult it is and the things that we had to deal with, and not only that, but our own issues as well with the amount of plays that we had out, I think it’s a significant improvement and we have to be proud. But not happy, because we want to win.”
He also said that he and his coaches have deliberately installed the desire to scrap into his players knowing it’ll stand them in good stead as the season goes on.
“It’s something that we had to install on them,” he said. “Because without that, you cannot play with that level of concentration, focus and discipline for that long in that context if you don’t love it.
“Somehow you have to love it, if not you start to miss bits and spaces and the puzzle starts to break and then you get punished.”
17 red cards under Arteta, the most any other team has is 9 in the same period. We have the most bookings/red cards for kicking the ball away, other teams have a toal of 100 instances not punished.
Crazy figures that appear biased against us.
A throw back to the Wenger days when we seemed punished for things other reams (esp Utd) got away with. The OT end of unbeaten run just highlighted it, one of the worst refereeing performances of all time…by the bloke who went on to lead the PGMOL. Figures.
You mean Mike van Nisteriley? Man who gave Van nisterooy 9 opportunities to take a penalty from 11 consecutive visits to Old Trafford?
Remember. The majority of the PGMOL are from the North or North West. They try to convince us that they support small local teams up there when we know that it’s bollocks. They grew up seeing Man U being managed by Fergie in his pomp. I don’t believe for a second that they haven’t had that lot as their second team, if not their first. I’m also sick of being gaslit by Webb and his corrupt cronies.
And remember all the horror tackles we’ve seen? Too many to mention.
But these spring to mind – Saka getting kicked in the calf while he jumped for a ball, Havertz being strangled, was it Tomiyasu who got kicked in the face against Everton? And was it also Tomi that got his ankle gouged by Jackson too?
Joke. They’d rather punish this sort of thing than potentially career ending challenges.
Haaland is getting too arrogant. Just that, I meant nothing else of course…hmm.
17? We’d better stay humble.
I cannot wait for Odegaard to say, while addressing the hordes of jubilant Arsenal fans gathered in Islington in May 2025, “Oh, and guys, remember to stay humble”.
And “Just get down the tunnel”
You make a good point, Johnny. The whole system needs a rethink, in my opinion. I always liked the “sin bin” idea. You would still have belief-defying situations like the Martinelli double yellow, these latest two dismissals, etc., but they wouldn’t be so impactful. Delaying the restart, even when valid, shouldn’t carry the same penalty as a bad challenge.
That would be the biggest, most deserved ‘slap down’ in recent footballing memory. I am confident he’ll get the chance to 🙂
You’ve got that right, CB
And there is absolutely no way on earth we’ve been the dirtiest team. Not even close.
I would think the quotes coming from City players were an AI deep fake if I didn’t know better. For the masters of cheap tactics, namely rotational/systemic fouling to stop counterattacks, to complain so vocally and from so many different places tells me only one thing – they are well and truly rattled. For the first time since Arteta arrived, we have the psychological upper hand, and I for one can’t wait to face them again. I saw a stat that they’ve lost 7 of their last 21 PL games without Rodri, so really I look forward to watching them… Read more »
The quotes from players are unlikely to be ai… but their legions of commenters on the beeb? Different story.
They are either incredibly thick, or very well media trained – either way, it seems to be working.
The Rodri injury was the most significant event from that game. Massive blow for them. I think he’s their most important player, the very scaffolding of their structure. There is no replacing that.
The tenor of the conversation seems to be, wait a minute, teams are supposed to be doing this stuff TO you. How do you get off flipping the script? Are you saying we need a new script? I have to understand the game I’m watching!? It’s too much. Stop it Arsenal, be the soft team we want you to be.
I mean we would have gotten smothered had we not played the way we did in the second half. I was fully expecting Arteta to bring on Ben White during the break but probably in place of Partey but taking off Saka surprised me but a decision that paid off handsomely. What we saw was a bunch of warriors in the second half battling hard. Immensely proud of the way we played is all I could say. Any other team would have played the same way we did. So, I don’t know what the complaints are all about. Also, what… Read more »
It’s all part of an artificial narrative, no need to get all het up about it. Had Arsenal done what they say and get likely pummeled, then the narrative would change to how naive/spineless/no pashun (take your pick) Arsenal were.
Fact is, they are rattled because they know Arsenal nearly beat them 10v11 and we certainly would have beaten them 11v11.
Bernadette Silva and Haaland have become really annoying little shits.
Haaland is a pretty big shit.
HAHa
A huge turd.
People get on Bruno’s back for his on-field attitude, and it is deserved. But I have come to realize that he is a great person off the field. I have always said though, that Bernando Silva is a prick on the field and now it looks like off it, too. People just don’t see it easily because he plays for city. Pep and his cry babies have been well and truly rattled. But the most disgusting thing of all is that the media is aiding them. Because all of a sudden there is a wide outcry about “dark arts” “time… Read more »
Must be tough for Guardiola to know that in spite of all his cheating there’s still a team who will beat him fair and square.
No, they’ve always been that!
Banana Silva and a humble f*kin clown
They need to allow VAR to get involved and catch everyone equally. We’ve already heard VAR audio intervening on the Declan Rich 2nd yellow, after being told they don’t get involved.
I just saw that clip of Haaland goading Arteta at the end of the match, telling him to “stay humble”. Not only does the skin on his face look like it’s about an inch too thick, it seems clear now the same is true of his skull. He even had the gall to say that after throwing the ball at the back of Gabriel’s head like a coward and running away. The more I see of this guy the more repugnant he seems, both inside and out. Credit to Arteta and Gabriel for how they responded, class acts both.
Mourinho did this against Barca in the CL when he was at Chelsea and was hailed as a tactical genius. Also did the same thing against Liverpool when they were chasing the title (when Stevie G slipped) and again was commended for it when Liverpool naively played right into their hands. I hate moaning but it really does feel like Arsenal get a raw deal with the criticism.
Where were the celebration police on Sunday after Man City celebrated the draw like they’d won the CL?!
Arteta asked regarding tactics: Comes out with something scientific and witty that both explains things perfectly while giving nothing away and it’s instant.
Haaland asked the same question: “Gah, uhh, hurr hurr, gah” *continues to play with his own poo*
“HEEEEEEEY YOOOOOOU GUYYYYS!”
*throws more poo*
Perfect!
The referee stuff is noxious. I’d rather talk about our team. 1- The FB situation keeps evolving. I’ve had this thought that Arteta probably can’t wait to use Timber AND Calafiori and we finally saw it in one of the biggest games of the year. Incredible blend of on and off ball qualities. More of this to come. 2- Gabriel has rendered himself indispensable as Saliba’s running mate and offensive heavy artillery. I had a suspicion that maybe Calafiori was going to replace him one day soon (I think Arteta LOVES Calafiori’s progressive qualities) but with these performances that’s impossible.… Read more »
Are the cheats still whining to the press? Asking for a friend.
#rattled
Obviously, certain refs are biased against us. Letter of the law for arsenal but not others. One journalist that I emailed said Doku kicked the ball back so the free kick could be taken. Unfortunately, he did no such thing unless he has terrible control. What bothers me most is not that Silva dives, did so once to win a pen when Xhaka breathed on him, but the fact that the man city players know their club broke the rules. They might be so ignorant over geopolitics that they have no idea about the dictator who signs their paychecks. But… Read more »