"Pep Guardiola becomes ever more the traditional English football man. As his Manchester City stay extends to 10 seasons, he relies ever more on the principle that big players can win big matches. Hence his late-career conversion to employing a wrecking ball striker in the peerless Erling Haaland. As for his former assistant Mikel Arteta, Arsenal looked stuck in the weeds of over-thinking. Benching Eberechi Eze, who tortured City in last season's FA Cup final, till half-time was just too clever by half."
"Arteta's recent talk of using rugby strategy, of thinking of substitutes as finishers, in the style of South Africa's bomb squad is all very well. Even if the substitute Gabriel Martinelli scored the equaliser from an Eze long ball, a talented, capable squad playing one-dimensional fare is far less explicable. This is not the City who previously dominated the Premier League. They showed their own limitations, particularly once Haaland, brilliant as attacker and defender, was removed."
"Having someone of Grealish's quality almost feels like a luxury at a club more accustomed to finishing in the bottom half but the England international is backing up his natural ability with hard work. He had the better of Conor Bradley for much of the Merseyside derby, helped set up the Everton goal and was repeatedly fouled as Liverpool did what they could to stop him."
Pep Guardiola has shifted toward selecting bigger, more physical players and uses Erling Haaland as a wrecking-ball striker to secure big matches. Mikel Arteta has experimented with complex strategies, including rugby-style substitute planning, and delayed Eberechi Eze's involvement until halftime, which reduced Arsenal's dynamism. Both managers displayed tactical limitations during the 1-1 draw, with City's balance disrupted after Haaland's removal. Jack Grealish joined Everton on loan after losing his place at Manchester City and has been revitalised under David Moyes's more attacking setup. Grealish outplayed Conor Bradley, created Everton's goal, and suffered repeated fouls as Liverpool sought to contain him.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]