A lot is being made about how Arsenal approached their Premier League title clash with Manchester City on Sunday at the Etihad.
This was Arsenal’s chance to go top of the Premier League table. Prove to the world that they are title-worthy and secure a statement win against THE team in the league.
Instead, Mikel Arteta opted to play for the clean sheet, ensure his team didn’t lose and ended up securing a point.
That meant there were little chances during the game for both teams, and even the smallest of margins, were heavily scrutinised.
One player who Ian Wright criticised was Kai Havertz and his lack of movement during the game when playing as a number nine for Arsenal.
The legendary striker stated that, at one point, the 24-year-old was ‘walking’ and not being active enough with his attacking movement, as he told Premier League Productions (31/03/24 at 6:40 pm).
The German, who has been in strong form since the turn of the year and was even being dubbed ‘complete’, started in his usual centre-forward position.
Gabriel Jesus is the man for that role, but Arteta opted to play him out wide, with the Brazil star yet to find his feet again since returning from injury.
Wright explained why he felt Havertz wasn’t doing enough without the ball to try and help his team score, with Arsenal only having 27% possession of the ball.
Kai Havertz v Manchester City
“It’s not even frustration with some of the runs, it’s just I see a lot of this with strikers, at the moment,” said Wright.
“You look at Havertz here. He is walking in a situation where we still have the ball, so you can still get yourself onside and then you can make a run. When you look at that, he should have done that earlier (moved back into position to make a run).
“This pass from Odegaard, with the quality he has got and in a game like this, you have to make that pass around this left side, onto his left foot and take it away from the defender, so he can go and get a touch. I think it’s just moments like that. That’s the difference and that’s the margins.”
Time will tell
There will be some criticising Arsenal for their approach and thinking this was a missed opportunity in their quest to win the title.
They are sitting second in the table, two points behind Liverpool – who beat Brighton 2-1 on Sunday – with midweek fixtures coming up.
In these coming weeks, fans will get a clear understanding of whether this tactical move from Arsenal has paid off or will hit them back in the face.
But, one thing is for sure, you still can’t rule them out of the race because they are still in the thick of the action, with another crucial set of fixtures coming up.
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