At the Emirates Stadium on 21/9, Manchester City held only 32.8% of possession, the lowest in all 601 league matches Guardiola has managed. Coincidentally, Guardiola's two lowest possession games with Manchester City have both come against Arsenal in the Premier League, the previous being 36.5% in 3/2023. His previous worst was 34.6% when he managed Bayern Munich against Barcelona in the 2016 Champions League.
"We didn't want to, but sometimes football is like that," Guardiola said after the Arsenal draw. "Once in 10 years isn't bad, is it? I needed to prove I can use a different strategy. So now I have a team that can counter-attack."
The Spanish manager even joked about the new record in his career. "I can't live in this country without making another record and I'm proud of it," he said.
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Manager Pep Guardiola reacts after Manchester City's 1-1 draw with Arsenal in the fifth round of the Premier League at the Emirates Stadium, London, England on 21/9/2025. Photo: PA |
Manager Pep Guardiola reacts after Manchester City's 1-1 draw with Arsenal in the fifth round of the Premier League at the Emirates Stadium, London, England on 21/9/2025. Photo: PA
Despite maintaining a relaxed demeanor, Guardiola admitted to feeling "uncomfortable" watching his team defend so deep. "I want the ball far from our goal, not hovering in front of it. But when the opponent plays so well, you have to accept it and find ways to improve," the 54-year-old manager said.
Manchester City opened the scoring in the 9th minute thanks to Erling Haaland's angled shot. Afterward, the visitors retreated into a defensive formation. Guardiola even substituted Phil Foden and Haaland with defenders Nathan Ake and John Stones, aiming to preserve the 1-0 lead, but was unsuccessful. In the third minute of added time, Gabriel Martinelli beat the offside trap, broke through and chipped the ball over goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to equalize.
"We played resiliently and were very close to winning. For the past 10 years, I've seen many teams park the bus in front of the penalty area, and today we were the ones who had to do it," Guardiola explained. "Three days ago, we played an extremely intense match against Napoli, then traveled to London with only a few hours of rest. Arsenal are genuine title contenders, having competed closely for the past two seasons and reached the Champions League semi-finals. Today, we were simply too tired and short-handed."
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Erling Haaland's angled shot opens the scoring. Photo: Reuters |
Erling Haaland's angled shot opens the scoring. Photo: Reuters
According to Guardiola, Manchester City's bright spot wasn't their tactics, but their spirit. "The important thing is body language, the way you celebrate, the way you sacrifice for your teammates. We lost that last season," he said. "This season, I don't care too much about the results, but I want to see that spirit back on the training ground, in every moment of the game. This week, we did it and need to maintain it."
Haaland continued to score from a transition play – similar to his goal against Manchester United in the fourth round. But Guardiola doesn't see this as a new strategic approach. He said: "It's also an option. But I feel when you have to play every three days, you can't maintain that counter-attacking intensity forever. The team still needs to control the ball more."
Hong Duy (Telegraph)
