Pep Guardiola admits 'horrible' Man City tactics backfired vs Arsenal before half time tweak
Pep Guardiola thought that his tactical plan for Manchester City in their win over Arsenal was so bad he had to make changes at half time.
City lined up in a similar system to the win over Aston Villa, with Bernardo Silva effectively playing at left-back alongside a back three. Kevin De Bruyne's brilliant lob over Aaron Ramsdale put the Blues ahead, but Bukayo Saka levelled from the penalty spot after Ederson fouled Eddie Nketiah.
While City went on to secure a huge three points thanks to Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland goals, Guardiola said after the match that he was so unhappy with a 'horrible' first half that he felt compelled to make changes at the break.
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"Of course coming here, they were much better than us first half. Second half we were much much better," Guardiola told Amazon.
"At half time I said we cannot play without playing, just defending because they were so good. We should be more active. Second half was excellent."
Asked what frustrated him in the first, Guardiola replied: "My tactics. I decide something new and it was horrible. Second half we were more like we are.
"We let them play the build up. The way our shape we let them play. With Jorginho, Xhaka, Aleks [Zinchenko], they found the players behind especially Odegaard. The runners outside. Second half and second half we adjust a little bit, Ruben [Dias] was really good. Going more aggressive to Odegaard. we control more on the ball. We play more.
"Erling helps us a lot, one against one we play more long balls and he uses his power to keep the ball. We do it, first half they have one moment in the middle, we struggle a lot to control and that's why they were much better. Second half we were there.
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