Sporting - on the bus. The 0-0 hammering

Champions League semi-final in the bag!

The starting XI raised a few eyebrows early doors, mostly regarding Zubimendi. Martin looked absolutely knackered over the weekend and was surely destined for a rest (since Arteta won’t dare start anyone else at the Etihad). Handing him another 90-minute shift in midweek felt like a proper wrong call, especially since both Rice and Zubimendi were on thin ice with yellow cards, risking a miss for the first leg of the semi-final.

It made perfect sense to throw Norgaard into the mix, but Arteta stuck with the lad who’s clocked the most minutes for the Gunners this term. His gamble paid off, though—fair play to him. The gamble came good because the boys came out with the exact energy we wanted to see on Saturday against Bournemouth. They were right on the front foot, pressing the life out of them, and Sporting couldn’t practically get out of their own half for the first 10 minutes. That’s exactly how a team in charge of their own destiny behaves on the pitch. I’ve seen this Arsenal side do this in big individual games over the last couple of seasons, and usually, when we start like that, we get the result we need.

And Zubimendi was right there, the heartbeat of the display. He was playing further up the pitch, which I reckon was a dress rehearsal for the Etihad, and a proper response after that frustrating Carabao Cup final loss. Instead of two midfielders on the same line who can’t turn with the ball, we had Rice sitting deep and Zubimendi higher up, stretching the opposition and allowing someone like Eze to drop in and help bust the press.

Gyok and Martinelli started, as I expected—becasue if they don’t start a Champions League game against Sporting, what’s the point of having them in the team for the run-in? Gyokeres, though, looked quite off it. It was against his old club and they probably know his drills well. But that’s no excuse for a poor performance; he couldn’t leave a mark, and the ball was just bouncing off him. He even wasted a couple of decent shooting sights. A truly drab showing.

Gabi Martinelli didn’t offer much in the final third, to be fair. But on three occasions, he practically bailed us out from a dangerous counter-attack. You can see him in the image below acting as our last man—and you know he came out on top in that duel.

While I don’t expect him to terrorize Man City’s defense, his knack for sniffing out counters and doing the hard yards in midfield could be also leveraged to our benefit at the Etihad.

The one who actually did the business at the far end of the pitch was Eberechi Eze. Our number 10 returned to the side and proved once again he’s the only one with truly world-class quality in our attack. When you look at the other Champions League quarter-finalists—when you look at Michael Olise, Kvaratskhelia, Lamine Yamal, or Dembele—you see that only Eze has that same level of composure and skill in the final third. I’d describe that level as the ability to create a threat out of thin air.

Right now, Eze is the only player who can really drive our attack. He showed some proper “Street Flair,” with some silky footwork. From the stands, it might look like Noni Madueke was doing the same, but the difference was huge: Eze did it to carve Sporting defnce up, while Noni just did it to show off. Unfortunately, it was another “look at me” performance from Madueke. I feel for him, as he was likely playing through an injury concern and badly twisted his leg in the second half. We need every body available for the run-in, but that performance isn’t simply good enough for a team chasing silverware this spring.

Despite our dominance, the two scariest moments actually came from Sporting. After all his great tracking back, Martinelli failed to spot the Sporting right-back raiding forward, who got into the box and sent the ball directly into the far post. Raya wasn’t in control of that one bit. But nearly-goals don’t count, so we kept trying to pick the lock.

The second chance came right at the start of the second half when Mosquera gave a silly nudge to a Sporting player in our box. It was a daft push because it could’ve easily been a penalty. It was soft and wouldn’t be normally given in the Premier League, but with VAR in slow motion, we all know how it looks. Mosquera can be brilliant for most of the game, but he always has a couple of shaky moments in him. Still, at full-back, those errors aren’t as fatal as when he’s at center-half.

Arteta then made some sensible second-half subs. He even brought Jesus back on, and while I don’t want to see him playing in our shirt anymore, it made sense to give Eze a breather. Let’s be real: if we’re going to any attacking threat at the Etihad, it’s going to happen through our number 10. No one else can knit the attack together or turn a half-chance into a goal. Saka and Odegaard have been out for weeks; they aren’t going to come in and save the day. At best, they’ve got 30 or 45 minutes in them, so we need Eberechi as fresh as possible for Sunday.

Besides Jesus, Havertz, Trossard, and Dowman got some minutes. It would’ve been practically a crime not to play Trossard at all, after he was a centerpiece of our exciting TIFO before the starting whistle.

The big worry with Max Dowman was whether he’d handle the physical battle against aggressive Portuguese players, especially since refs usually let fouls slide when a 16-year-old is getting knocked about by seniors (because they are supposed to, right?).

Max stood up to the challenge, but in such moments I do regret that we sent Ethan on loan to Marseille. While Max is the best at gliding past players, I think he can still be bullied off the ball when receiving it. Ethan really knows how to shield the ball using his body and quick feet, despite his smaller size, using the low center of gravity. I miss him, especially when I see these frustrating Madueke performances. Ethan gave us 10 goals from that position last year, and I reckon he’d have done it again in 25/26 if he had Noni’s minutes.

The closest we came to scoring was in the dying minutes when their keeper tried to be too clever and was almost caught out by Trossard and then Jesus.

Both times he was off his line predicting the future, and Leo was just centimeters away from punishing him. I wasn’t a fan of the heated row Arteta had with Trossard around the 86th minute. It looked, felt and smelled like micromanagement, and I’m sure a 30-year-old man doesn’t appreciate being spoken to like that. I’ll let it slide for now, provided this type of “spark” works on Sunday.

Right at the death, Sporting nearly snatched an equalizer. Total chaos in the box, and their man appeared with the goal at his mercy. My heart stopped, but luckily it flashed wide and the ref blew up having our ticket to the semi-final booked.

I don’t think it was a boring game—certainly not the “cotton candy” we saw against Bournemouth. It was a proper match, full of energy from both sides. We’re great at getting the ball to the edge of the area, but we struggle to turn that into real danger compared to other CL sides and I believe it’s down to our inferior individual attacking quality. Having only Eze is not enough; he needs a world-class partner. Kane is doing it with Olise, Musiala and Diaz. Dembele has Khvaratskhelia, Doue and Vitinha around him. Pre-injury Saka was that man, but it’s been a year since the surgery and I am starting to doubt he’ll ever be the same. Maybe Arteta’s intensity broke him and the subsequent surgery cost him that yard of pace, just like it clearly did with Ben White.

A detour in Spain

Watching Atleti vs Barca the night before left me in a weird spot as a fan. On one hand, Atleti gives us the best shot at the final because they aren’t exactly intricate in attack. But part of me felt that beating Barca in a semi-final would leave us better prepared—mentally and tactically—for a final against Bayern or PSG.

Barca are the weakest of the three because of that suicide high line. To be honest, as a Barca fan, I’d be fuming if my center-backs got sent off in both legs for the same tactical error. I’d be mad at a coach who can’t fix the problem. But playing against Barcelona would make us exposed to the highest level of individual attacking talent and the ability to deal with this talent could prepare us the most for the potential final.

In the end, Barca’s high line did them in, and we’ve got Atleti. The scoreline against Sporting didn’t scream confidence, but the performance and the aggregate result certainly did.

The Game On Sunday

I’ve said before: it’s mentally much easier heading to the Etihad as semi-finalists and league leaders against a team that’s already crashed out and sits 6 points behind. Even the disposition of both teams can be spun properly to give our players shots of confidence.

This is a defining game for the Arteta era. But before the line-up talk, here are my assumptions about the squad.

1. The long-term absentees—Saka, Odegaard, Timber—won’t play a big part. Hoping on them popping up and saving the day it’s just outirght naive. They’ve been out too long and their match fitness isn’t there. If they weren’t even on the bench Wednesday, they aren’t ready to start. In fact, Arteta already confirmed that Saka is going to fully miss the game.

2. Risking Timber on injections from the start is madness. We’ve got 7 massive games left. Why throw a player in and risk losing him for the season? Even if we lose to City, the title race isn’t dead, and the CL is still wide open. There is no logical need to go “all in” on Sunday.

3. Starting Gyokeres is basically shooting ourselves in the foot. He was mostly useless against the top half of the table and can’t hold up a long ball. We need every player to participate properly in the build-up. It has to be Havertz from the off, with Gyokeres coming on late to finish.

4. I struggle to see what Madueke gives us over Dowman, even if he’s a fit. He’s not great defensively, which was just proved last week-end against Bournemouth. Dowman is better connected with the rest of the team. And even Madueke’s individual raiding skills have evaporated recently. I can’t find a single reason to start him over Max.

Given all that, the team mostly picks itself. Keeper, center-back, and the midfield trio are locked in (anyone calling for unfit Odegaard over Eze right now is having a laugh), and Havertz at 9. That leaves 4 spots on the wings/full-backs.

1. I’d start Mosquera over White. Mosquera is “cruise control” defender; he asdjusts to the level of whoever he’s up against—whether it’s Doku or Jimmy Red-Socks from Sunday Pub League that works down the street. He might let Duoke past twice in game, but I’d take that over White, who looks like a ticking time bomb. If Timber can give us a half, bring him on later to steady the ship.

2. From a defensive and energy-charging point of view, Hincapie at left-back makes sense. That said, Gabriel looks better with a technical partner like Calafiori (opponents know Gabriel and Hincapie will just hoof it away under pressure), but I wouldn’t start Calafiori right from the nurse’s table. He can always be that secret weapon we unleash if we are chasing a goal.

3. On the right wing, start Dowman. I don’t think he either can or should be tracking O’Reilly all game; we can shift our pressing shape to have Dowman be in the front line of 4-4-2 and have Havertz or Zubimendi or Rice fill in his place in the right midfield. Having Max, Eze, and Havertz gives us a real chance to hurt them.

4. If we’re concerned about Dowman’s defensive output, we start Martinelli on the left and have him drop deep as a wing-back, allowing the back four to shift and cover the potential threat coming from the right side.

If I’m guessing, Arteta will push Timber from the start even if he’s 60% fit. He’ll probably start Trossard left and Martinelli right because he doesn’t trust Noni or Max defensively. We also need to see his answer for the City 4-2-4 press, but as I’ve alluded before, I reckon we’ll go 4-1-2-3. Rice deep, Eze as a roaming 8 to break the press, and Havertz as the target man for the long ball.

But having said all that, the principal question before Sunday is how Arteta is planning to address this game from a strategic point of view. He has two ways to set up the team. He can either set up to block City’s lanes and grind out a boring 0-0 like in 23/24, or play aggressively, press high and create chances like we did in the first 45 of 24/25 before Trossard was sent off.

If we go defensive and lose, the belief in the league title will be shattered into pieces. Even with a draw we won’t be out of the woods; with a 3-point lead, we need to keep winning. For a team that mostly knows how to defend it will be hard to believe they can go on a needed winning streak.

But if we go for it—even if we lose because, let’s say, we created several great chances but Donnarumma had a worldie— neither fans nor players can’t get really frustrated. Moreover, players can take this performance, sugar coat it with exceptional keeper performances and build on top of it the upcoming games against Newcastle, Fulham and West Ham.

From the mentality perspective, the defense-first approach is always much harder. If you bet on your defense, the players understand that every mistake can be fatal, so their mind is exclusively focused on avoiding them. They make their decisions based on such mentality, they stop being creative, they avoid taking initiative, and the nerves start to creep in with every additional ounce of opponent pressure. You might recognize some of the Arsenal games you watched, maybe even a certain Cup final at the end of March.

But if you take risks and create chances, you always believe the next one will go in. Bravery puts doubt in the opponent’s mind, the doubts about their own abilities start to creep in.

City aren’t perfect; they’ve buckled under pressure a couple of times this season, with the last example being against Real.

For me, the choice between styles is clear: have a go at them, there are simply more benefit doing that. Bravery is rewarded and it will also be observed by every one of our future opponents. And to close the argument —do you really think we can keep a clean sheet at the Etihad after conceding two against Bournemouth and Southampton lately?

This is the moment to slay the demons and all you fears. Make your mark. Take control. Materialize your desire for trophies into actual results. We’re top of the league for a reason—we’ve been the most consistent (or least flawed) side over the course of the season. Now it’s time to act like it.

Arteta has talked a lot about fire before Sporting and I saw that fire on the pitch from the first minute. Will he manage to keep that fire burning for the trip up North and light up the boys again?