Jamie Carragher says he was ‘flabbergasted’ by one Pep Guardiola decision for Man City against Arsenal
Manchester City ground out a point against Arsenal in Sunday’s big Premier League match at the Etihad Stadium.
The incident-packed contest finished 2-2 at the Etihad Stadium, and in the end, it was probably just about a fair result.
Manchester City dominated in terms of possession and shots, with Arsenal going down to 10 men just before half-time after Leandro Trossard kicked the ball away for a second yellow card.
John Stones popped up late in injury-time to rescue a point for the hosts, after a full half was spent trying to break down the Arsenal defence.
It was a tough watch, and Jamie Carragher was stunned to see Ruben Dias getting so much of the ball on the edge of the Arsenal box.
The Sky Sports pundit has now gone into more detail about the way Pep set his team up in the second-half.
Jamie Carragher could not believe Pep didn’t change Man City’s formation against Arsenal
It was always going to be a case of Arsenal defending for their lives in that second-half.
They had taken the lead through Gabriel, and losing Trossard meant they were never going to try and attack.
City huffed and puffed, but Arsenal stood firm.
It was really only until Jack Grealish came on that City became a bit more threatening. The winger, who came in for praise from Niall Quinn after the game, made a big impact in the end and was key in City finding an equaliser through Stones.
Carragher spoke about City trying to break Arsenal down after the game. And he could not get his head around Pep not changing the formation.
He said on the Gary Neville podcast: ” I couldn’t believe how long it took to bring Phil Foden on to the pitch and then when Foden came on to the pitch he wasn’t in the position you would want him, which was on the edge of the box.
“I was flabbergasted how long the back four stayed on considering Arsenal didn’t really have a striker. I can understand Pep not making a change at half-time because he’s not quite sure what Arsenal are going to do.
“Then you see it, and you see they are going 5-4-0. I couldn’t understand why he left the back four on for so long without making changes, but the substitute got the goal so he will be pleased with that.”
A strange decision
Carragher has a point about the way City were playing against Arsenal in the second-half.
It was total and utter dominance from City and Arsenal could not get out of their own half. The red card for Trossard merely confirmed that they would just spend the rest of the game defending.
There was zero threat from them and so, it made little sense that Ruben Dias and Manuel Akanji remained on the pitch.
Perhaps Pep feared the counter. But arguably in that moment and the way the game was going, it would have been worth the risk to hook one of the centre-backs in favour of a creator. Or have Phil Foden on the edge of the box instead.
In the end, City rescued a point though, and Pep will probably take it.
