TIM STILLMAN, VITAL ARSENAL

It’s difficult to form any kind of cogent analysis of a game that had such an early red card. We paid the price for letting City begin the game quickly and I think it’s a common theme that Arsenal don’t tend to begin games very quickly. I don’t think Koscielny really needed to take Dzeko out and I’m sure he’ll have regrets about it on reflection. But even then, there will be regrets about the first goal in particular. We lost concentration on a routine quick free kick and most teams in the Premier League will punish you for that, never mind a City side with a man advantage. I said before the game that concentration would be the watch word and we let ourselves down in that respect. From there, the game completely changed and Walcott was never going to be the sort of striker to take the pressure off our midfield and defence. Diaby was also understandably rusty and that really showed when we were depleted by a man. But it’s largely hindsight to say that they were selection errors per se.

I was pleased with the way we acquitted ourselves in the second half. At half time I rather considered the result a write off and just hoped that we could avoid a big defeat that could have had big repercussions on immediate fixtures. Though City were happy with what they had, I thought we struck a good balance between trying to get back into the game and not leaving ourselves too open. Arsène even tucked Podolski in as a second striker and left three central midfielders. But it was just too big an ask to rescue a result, even when Kompany’s sending off evened up the numbers. Manchester United lost 6-1 at home to the same opponents when they went down to ten men just over a year ago. Had we scored a goal after Kompany’s red card it would have been an interesting finale, but we just couldn’t cause City enough problems.

A final word should go to Jack Wilshere though, whose display was inspiring in the circumstances. His talent is obvious to all, but his will to win is really eye-catching too and his long-term injury doesn’t seem to have had a tangible effect on his confidence in the duels.
With the squad of players they have, playing Manchester City at any time is an enormous test. Recently, playing City, especially at home, has suited us to some degree. Contrary to popular press opinion, Arsenal possess very good defensive players and are capable of good defending. But we can still be prone to lapses in concentration. I think playing City has, in the past, focused the minds of the players somewhat. It will be interesting to see how Arsenal approach this game. This season, they appear to have disposed with the high-octane pressing game of seasons past, where we would close down opponents high up the pitch, in favour of sitting off and taking a solid shape off the ball, ensuring there are numbers behind it when we lose possession.

But essentially, Arsenal have long been fighting a battle against balance. We look offensively more threatening when we play on the front foot and close opponents down - as we did in the second half against Swansea last week - but that consequently seems to make us more porous at the back. That partially explains why we’ve had a curious mix of 'helter skelter' encounters - we’ve had two 6-1's, a 7-5, a 7-3 and two 5-2’s this season - alongside some rather more pedestrian matches. But Arsenal have found some joy in actioning the pressing game against City. Mikel Arteta’s winning goal last season was a direct result of hassling City in their own half. If Giroud is not fit and Arsenal are to play Walcott through the centre, I think it’s really the only way we can approach the game because Theo will need quick service in behind Kompany which will require us to use quick transitions of play. City of course come to us without Nasri and Yaya Toure, but such is their squad they can offer a threat from anywhere. For instance, Pablo Zabaleta has been a source of goals this season.  Even if you stifle them for 60 minutes, they have the sort of bench that can and frequently does win games. Concentration is the watchword for Arsenal, it will need to be at its utmost for 90-plus minutes.
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