Arsenal Held by Manchester City: Arteta’s Caution Under Fire

The 1-1 draw between Arsenal and Manchester City at the Emirates drew sharp commentary from That’s Football’s Mark Goldbridge, who criticised Mikel Arteta’s tactical approach and personnel decisions in a match that he argued “Arsenal needed to win.”

Goldbridge, speaking on the popular YouTube football show, was clear in his view that Arsenal’s pragmatic strategy cost them two vital points. “They needed to win that game,” he said. “You’ve already lost to Anfield. Now you’ve drawn at home to Man City. That’s five points gone.”

Goldbridge took issue with Arteta’s team selection, calling it “too pragmatic” and symptomatic of a manager who still bears “bloody respect for his bloody mentor.” In his words, “You’re better than Man City now. And you’re going into a game with a defensive midfield and Tossard on the left. You’re at home.”

A major bone of contention was the decision to reintroduce key players like William Saliba and Bukayo Saka despite fitness concerns. “Saliba is completely responsible for the Haaland goal,” said Goldbridge. “He doesn’t look fit. But Arteta throws him into a big game like this because it’s Saliba.” On Saka, he added, “Madawakei looked better in the first half than Saka did in the second half.”

These were not isolated critiques. Goldbridge consistently pointed to a deeper issue of “overreliance on experienced players” and a lack of trust in squad depth: “He rushes his key players back all the time and doesn’t trust in players that are actually match fit.”

While much of the focus was on Arsenal, Goldbridge didn’t shy away from critiquing Manchester City either. He labelled Pep Guardiola’s approach as “counterattacking football”, adding with sharp irony, “Will the media be saying Pep’s football is now just counterattacking? No, they won’t, because they bloody love Pep.”

City’s failure to kill the game was viewed as a tactical error: “Should they have been a little bit more expansive in trying to get the second goal? They didn’t really go for it and ultimately they fell short at the end.”

Despite recognising City’s solid defence, Goldbridge argued, “Pep probably should have gone for the second goal a little bit more because Arsenal looked bad defensively.”

Perhaps the most damning observation came when Goldbridge declared Liverpool the real winners of the weekend. “The real winner is Liverpool,” he said bluntly, noting their position at the top of the table. “Manchester City are eight points behind Liverpool. That to me is already too much. Arsenal are five points behind. I wouldn’t say it’s too much yet, but it’s starting to go that way.”

He highlighted Liverpool’s resilience in contrast to Arsenal’s fragility. “Liverpool have shown frailties but found a way to win. Arsenal barely found a way to equalise.” This, he argued, is a sign of title-winning know-how that Arsenal still lack.

Goldbridge concluded with a warning: “You can’t be second again. You can’t be a Champions League semi-finalist again. At some point you get to a point where you go, you’re not the guy.” He stressed that Arsenal, now with the squad depth and experience, should be delivering titles, not just performances.

Despite the draw, he recognised the result was significant in keeping Arsenal in the race: “Getting the point is really big for Arsenal… they’re not out of a title race now.” However, he warned that the club cannot afford more setbacks, especially with a visit to Newcastle next. “They have to go to Newcastle next week and they have to go and win five, six, seven games in a row.”

As always with That’s Football, the analysis was unapologetically forthright, blending tactical breakdown with emotionally charged commentary. For Arsenal, the message was simple: progress demands more than close calls and late equalisers. “They’ve got to be better… that wasn’t title-winning form today.”