The Regista - Man City vs Arsenal tactical review: Pep & Arteta locked horns in top tier chess masterclass
Tribalfootball.com's tactics expert Connor Holden reviews Arsenal's 0-0 draw at Manchester City and insists the clash between Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta was one of the great strategic battles of the season.
In a game that many neutral fan's have labelled a “snooze fest", I instead witnessed a top tier chess match between two elite coaches, both challenging for the title. And the two most important pieces on this 105m by 68m chess board were Josko Gvardiol and Mateo Kovacic for Pep Guardiola's plan.
GVARDIOL PLUS KOVACIC DYNAMIC
Manchester City started in their usual 4-2-3-1 “on paper" formation, which many presumed would set up with Rodri and Manuel Akanji sometimes stepping into defensive midfield (something Pep often uses) and Kovacic having a hybrid role between midfield and the more advanced half space on the left at times.
But this is what we saw instead…
Kovacic as a primary left centre-back progressor. City still made their central 3-2 base, but configured differently.
Gvardiol (circled yellow) pushed up from LCB, to almost play as the left midfielder, pinning Arsenal's fullback and giving Bukayo Saka an extremely hard task.
Akanji started the game doing the same job on the right hand side, seeing Bernardo Silva drop alongside Rodri from the right, forming the pivot in front of the three (Kovacic, Nathan Ake and Ruben Dias).
This configuration was put in place by Guardiola to disrupt the function of Arsenal's high press (which has made them the best out of possession team in the Premier League this campaign).
By moving Kovacic into the backline, and therefore pushing Gvardiol forward on the left, it meant City had their best ball carrier (at least on the pitch) playing deeper.
Therefore if
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