{"id":54097,"date":"2023-04-18T11:00:02","date_gmt":"2023-04-18T10:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/?p=54097"},"modified":"2023-04-18T11:52:29","modified_gmt":"2023-04-18T10:52:29","slug":"arsenal-learning-the-hard-way-what-it-takes-to-stop-manchester-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/arsenal-learning-the-hard-way-what-it-takes-to-stop-manchester-city\/","title":{"rendered":"Arsenal learning the hard way what it takes to stop Manchester City"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s entirely possible Arsenal will look back at their collapse against West Ham at the London Stadium as the moment this season\u2019s Premier League title race swung away from them for good. Mikel Arteta\u2019s team still sit four points clear at the top of the table, but Manchester City now undeniably have momentum on their side.<\/p>\n

By every measure, Arsenal are still on course for an historically strong season. The Gunners will likely finish on over 90 points. They set a new record for the most points accrued in club history over the first half of a Premier League campaign. And yet Arsenal might still not finish top of the pile ahead of City.<\/p>\n

Manchester City have raised the standard in the Premier League to an unprecedented level. All four of the best points finishes in the division have come in the last four seasons. Liverpool won 97 points in the 2018\/19 season and still finished second to the relentless force from the Etihad Stadium.<\/p>\n

Sir Alex Ferguson\u2019s Manchester United, Arsene Wenger\u2019s Arsenal and Jose Mourinho\u2019s and Chelsea were dominant forces at one time or another in Premier League history, but City are something else. A fourth title in four seasons would highlight how England\u2019s top flight is becoming a one-team league.<\/p>\n

Much of this is down to Guardiola\u2019s brilliance. As a coach, the 52-year-old is a generational talent. He has set the tactical zeitgeist at the elite level of European football for the past decade-and-a-half and is better at solving problems than any other manager even after all this time. This season has showcased this.<\/p>\n

Erling Haaland\u2019s signing from Borussia Dortmund last summer presented Guardiola with a fresh challenge with the Norwegian a more conventional number nine than the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager is usually known to favour. Until recently, concerns over Haaland\u2019s suitability for Manchester City lingered.<\/p>\n

Now, though, Haaland is being harnessed by a system that has put Kevin de Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan closer to him up front. John Stones has been moved into central midfield<\/a> and that has given Manchester City a solid platform in the centre of the pitch with the England international forging an understanding with Rodri.<\/p>\n

The departure of Joao Cancelo and Oleksandr Zinchenko in back-to-back transfer windows left Guardiola with just one natural full back (Kyle Walker) in his squad. Since January, though, the Catalan has adopted a back three with Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji pushed out to the wide areas when out of possession.<\/p>\n

Arteta, on the other hand, has struggled to find solutions for his own problems. William Saliba\u2019s injury has unsettled Arsenal defensively while the absence of Zinchenko has robbed the Gunners of their ability to control matches to the same extent – the collapses against Liverpool and West Ham are evidence of this.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need that ruthless mindset in those moments to go and kill a team,\u201d said Arteta after the failure to beat West Ham on Sunday. \u201cWhen the game is there for the killing you have to do it. Today we haven\u2019t done it.\u201d Arsenal have been praised for their strong mentality in certain moments this season, but they are currently facing their biggest test to date in this regard.<\/p>\n

Arsenal recovered from a wobble in form in February when they went three league games without a win and there\u2019s still a chance they are able to do this again. The Gunners are still top of the Premier League table and could yet finish the season as champions. If they don\u2019t, though, it\u2019ll underline just what it takes to become champions in the current climate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s entirely possible Arsenal will look back at their collapse against West Ham at the London Stadium as the moment this season\u2019s Premier League title race swung away from them for good. Mikel Arteta\u2019s team still sit four points clear at the top of the table, but Manchester City now undeniably have momentum on their side.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[643],"tags":[272],"class_list":["post-54097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sport","tag-featurehome"],"yoast_head":"\nArsenal learning the hard way what it takes to stop Manchester City - Colossus Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It\u2019s entirely possible Arsenal will look back at their collapse against West Ham at the London Stadium as the moment this season\u2019s...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/arsenal-learning-the-hard-way-what-it-takes-to-stop-manchester-city\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Arsenal learning the hard way what it takes to stop Manchester City\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It\u2019s entirely possible Arsenal will look back at their collapse against West Ham at the London Stadium as the moment this season\u2019s...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/arsenal-learning-the-hard-way-what-it-takes-to-stop-manchester-city\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colossus Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SportsBigger\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-04-18T10:00:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-04-18T10:52:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/braden-hopkins-pjENIdeds5c-unsplash-1-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Graham Ruthven\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/grahamruthven\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ColossusBets\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Graham Ruthven\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/arsenal-learning-the-hard-way-what-it-takes-to-stop-manchester-city\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/arsenal-learning-the-hard-way-what-it-takes-to-stop-manchester-city\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Graham Ruthven\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ccfb389143742c8479016f5471c9f4f2\"},\"headline\":\"Arsenal learning the hard way what it takes to stop Manchester City\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-04-18T10:00:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-04-18T10:52:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/arsenal-learning-the-hard-way-what-it-takes-to-stop-manchester-city\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":627,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"FeatureHome\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2023\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/arsenal-learning-the-hard-way-what-it-takes-to-stop-manchester-city\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/arsenal-learning-the-hard-way-what-it-takes-to-stop-manchester-city\\\/\",\"name\":\"Arsenal learning the hard way what it takes to stop Manchester City - 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