Manchester City flew to Abu Dhabi for a break straight after Sunday’s 2-0 defeat to Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium with familiar questions troubling them.
Are they too reliant on Yaya Touré and Sergio Agüero? What to do about the underperforming Eliaquim Mangala and Fernando, who were bought to freshen up the squad. How could a defence marshalled by Vincent Kompany be so weak? And does Manuel Pellegrini have the tactical knowhow to pull a result from the fire after failing to do against Arsène Wenger’s team?
The City fans who left early in disgust may have experienced an unwanted case of history repeating itself. The spectre is a return to the early-season slump that nearly derailed the title defence and Champions League campaign.
City had not lost to Arsenal in their backyard since October 2010. Defeats happen. This one ended a 14-match unbeaten run for which Pellegrini and players deserve great credit.
Yet on the debit side is the insipid manner of the defeat. Arsenal arrived having not beaten City, Manchester United or Chelsea away for three and a half years.
Confidence should have been surging through City and scarce for the visitors. What unfolded was the opposite. Pellegrini’s team were devoid of ideas while Arsenal proved bullish opponents. They bossed a side who have claimed two of the last three Premier League titles.
City certainly missed Touré, who is at the Africa Cup of Nations, and a fully firing Agüero, who was making a first start since recovering from a knee problem.
The striker was in scintillating form before the injury – scoring 19 times – but was understandably rusty as well as being starved of service. If Touré is absent City usually turn to Agüero. When the Ivorian was suspended for the Champions League it was the Argentinian’s hat-trick that secured a 3-2 win over Bayern Munich in a must-win game in November.
Agüero’s tentativeness was compounded by Touré being away. Four times the 31-year-old has not figured in a league match and on each occasion City have failed to win, managing only draws with Arsenal (in the reverse fixture), Burnley and Everton before Sunday’s defeat.
Arsenal’s win derived from an early Santi Cazorla penalty and a 67th-minute Olivier Giroud header. Martín Demichelis said: “After that [the penalty] we lost a bit of confidence. We also didn’t create the chances we normally do. We have also conceded our last five goals from set-pieces and penalties, not something we normally do.”
City’s defence, from midfield to the back four, is an issue. While Pellegirni cannot quite decide who is the poorer left-back of Gaël Clichy or Aleksandar Kolarov, Kompany and Fernando were culpable against Arsenal. Cazorla’s strike came when the captain lost the ball upfield and moments later fouled Nacho Monreal to allow the midfielder to open the scoring from the spot. It was Kompany’s first start for over a month, which may have played a part, but he can be prone to errors and to being caught out of position a surprising amount.
For Arsenal’s second goal the defensive midielder Fernando forgot the first part of his job description, falling asleep to allow Giroud an easy header. The Brazilian is a £12m signing who was supposed to add steel to City’s centre. It has not worked. The same criticism can be levelled at Mangala, a £40m defender whose clumsiness meant he was kept on the substitutes’ bench as Pellegrini again preferred the veteran Demichelis he was supposedly bought to replace.
Next on the charge sheet is the manager’s game-management. When Agüero was out for over a month and Edin Dzeko and Stevan Jovetic were also injured Pellegrini made a first major tactical shift since taking over.
With no recognised centre-forward available James Milner was pressed into a false nine role and it enjoyed some success, as Crystal Palace and Sheffield Wednesday (in the Cup) were beaten, although they dropped two points against Burnley.
Was it only a depleted strikeforce that caused the change in strategy? This is a conclusion difficult to avoid given Pellegrini hardly ripped up plan A for plan B on Sunday.
City’s deficit to Chelsea is five points. In just under a fortnight they are at Stamford Bridge for what will be a decisive game. A victory is required to close the gap and to offer some answers.
