Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Football London
Football London
Sport
Tom Canton

Man City and Pep Guardiola provide Mikel Arteta 18-man blueprint to help Arsenal close the gap

Arsenal were overwhelmed by the juggernaut that is Manchester City on Wednesday. The Gunners have been unable to recover from the losses of William Saliba and Takehiro Tomiyasu and Rob Holding’s deputising role has been exploited in the side’s poor run.

That said, the group beyond Holding has been disappointing and it would be unfair to lay blame at the feet of the experienced centre-half. Mikel Arteta has hardly rotated his side throughout the four-game winless run, making it very easy to predict who might start.

The absences of Oleksandr Zinchenko and Granit Xhaka have forced some variation in the group but their returns saw the immediate switch to the norm. Similar to when Gabriel Jesus returned to full fitness, the impressive Leandro Trossard was then dropped and the Gunners haven’t won a game since the Belgian returned to the bench.

READ MORE: Man City dominance explained as Aaron Ramsdale details last remaining title hope with five to go

Mikel Arteta believes that there is the possibility of making changes in the group, however. When asked whether he would be able to predict what City might do ahead of the game Arteta said: “The answer is no because I don't know their line-up!

“Once we have the line-up, we will have more of a rough idea but it depends on who they play. They can do something different, just like we can.”

The evidence is however against the Spaniard and the majority guessed what team would start at the Etihad. Meanwhile, Arteta was right about the Man City side which surprised many with Manuel Akanji starting at left-back in place of the injured Nathan Ake.

When you look at the Man City squad it isn’t really the 25-man group that the Premier League allows it is more so a group of around 18 players who are all at a level where they could start for Pep Guardiola’s side without seeing the level in quality drop by much if at all.

Man City’s 18-man group: Ederson, Kyle Walker, John Stones, Ruben Dias, Aymeric Laporte, Nathan Ake, Manuel Akanji, Rodri, Kalvin Phillips, Ilkay Gundogan, Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Jack Grealish, Phil Foden, Riyad Mahrez, Julian Alvarez and Erling Haaland. 18-year-old Rico Lewis has played a number of Premier League games and effectively replaced the 18th member Joao Cancelo who left on loan in January.

City have a number of other younger players like Cole Palmer, Sergio Gomez and Maximo Perrone who are often on the bench. Stefan Ortega, the backup goalkeeper, has also proven to be an asset in cup competitions.

Meanwhile, consider Arsenal’s best XI, which disappointingly has only started on seven occasions this season with the side winning all seven, and the difference in depth is staggering. The team consisting of: Aaron Ramsdale, Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Thomas Partey, Granit Xhaka, Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli has been the bedrock of the title challenge this season.

Yet, beyond the XI Arsenal have had only Leandro Trossard and Kieran Tierney as competitive options to push the starting group. Emile Smith Rowe has missed the majority of the season having undergone surgery but even then leaves the Gunners five top-quality players short of their title rivals.

This creates two problems when dealing with injuries and also squad rotation. Some players like Takehiro Tomiyasu and Eddie Nketiah can be useful in covering absences and have proven to do so.

Yet to challenge this Man City side for the title, the summer transfer window needs to see the additions of around five players to help match the competition. A forward, two central midfielders and two defenders.

Sporting director Edu Gaspar is the man tasked with this and not only that but overseeing the improvement of the sales sector of the club. It will be a massive period that could determine the longer-term future of the side and whether this season was a one-off or the beginning of Arsenal’s return to establishing itself at the top again.

READ NEXT:

Mikel Arteta's Jakub Kiwior decision shows where Arsenal must improve amid Man City gap claim

Mikel Arteta has four Arsenal team changes for Chelsea that must be made to revive title form

Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke confirmed to land £35m windfall after Man City defeat

Edu's four-man midfield shortlist revealed ahead of Arsenal's summer transfer window

William Saliba, Takehiro Tomiyasu: Arsenal injury news and return dates after Man City defeat

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.