Guardiola baffled as players fail him again
BRIEFLY it seemed as though Manchester City were about to plant themselves back into the middle of the Premier League title race.
Maybe not so much now. If we are going to get a late season challenge to Chelsea, it appears it will have to come from Tottenham.
Arsenal’s flame was extinguished long ago. Arsene Wenger’s team have not looked better than a top six team for ages — and that description fitted them at a subdued Emirates.
For City, though, this was an opportunity. Chelsea’s defeat 24 hours earlier had not exactly opened the door, but a win here would have seen City head to Stamford Bridge on Wednesday with a little momentum and the knowledge that another victory would see them six points adrift.
In just five days, that would have been some turnaround.
As such, it was possible to feel Pep Guardiola’s frustration as he tore a strip off referee Andre Marriner at full-time. Marriner and his assistants may have missed an Arsenal handball in the penalty area, but it was Guardiola’s players who had failed him over the course of the game.
A goal up after four and a half minutes, City were exactly where they needed to be early on. Guardiola had chosen a wildly adventurous team and the fact Leroy Sane’s opener came at the end of City’s third incisive movement seemed to indicate that their coach’s bravery would prove astute.
But the longer this season has gone on, the more City have looked a team of bits and pieces. Brilliant one moment, they can look desperately vulnerable the next. That lack of consistency was essentially the reason City could not get over the line.
Arsenal showed some fight and endeavour here. They were short of a pattern, though; prone to collective and individual mistakes. Precious little certainty about them.
Poor results have taken a toll on the confidence of Wenger’s players and it is hard to see them winning when the teams reconvene for an FA Cup semi-final on April 23. So why couldn’t City beat them? Guardiola said that they were better once Yaya Toure came on for the second-half. His first half team had just one natural holding player, Fernandinho, and in Jesus Navas, a winger at right back. This affected City’s ability to monopolise possession centrally.
Any improvement in the second period was minimal, however. There was only one goal after halftime and that went to Arsenal.
City had their opportunities. Two headers from Sergio Aguero, one wide and one saved by David Ospina, were the best of them and the Argentine’s failure to convert will perhaps have hardened Guardiola’s view that his centre forward is not for him in the long-term.
It is an interesting subject, that one. Aguero continues to work for his team and scored a very good goal as City briefly regained the lead before the break.
It was goal No 14 in the Premier League and it’s worth noting that 10 of those have given City a lead and two have been equalisers. In other words, the 28– year- old continues to be a scorer of important goals rather than ones that merely decorate matches and improve his personal statistics.
If Guardiola does, as seems almost certain, intend to jettison or relegate him for next season then he must be sure his replacement — in all likelihood the Brazilian Gabriel Jesus — is capable of filling a substantial void.
Guardiola looked a little exas- perated as he spoke. He had his thousand yard stare on before his press conference began. Once again he looked a little baffled as to why things in the Premier League do not go to plan.
On the touchline, he continues to micro-manage. John Stones in particular must be tired of playing passes forward only to look up and see his coach gesturing wildly that the ball should have been played laterally instead.
This is life at City under Guardiola and it remains a fascinating watch. One would expect the rebuild to be substantial in the summer even if players of longstanding such as David Silva look enduringly fundamental.
City will be a threat at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday but unless Chelsea’s defeat by Crystal Palace is about to precipitate a collapse of Devon Loch proportions, the Manchester club will have to be significantly better than this to get anything at all.