There will be no sympathy for Arsenal from my generation of players.
The post-invincible Gunners under Arséne Wenger, the group that came after 2004, were arrogant a***holes. There were a couple of exceptions but in general they were ... you can fill in the blank yourself. In this newspaper it would just be a bunch of asterisks.
On the flip side, it is tougher to witness a state-funded entity continue to carve out the most dominant period in Premier League history.
Only Newcastle United or a Qatari-backed Manchester United, if that happens, can reel in Manchester City this decade. Liverpool under Jürgen Klopp and owners Fenway Sports Group came as close as any club possibly could without petrodollars.
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It should have finished 9-1 at the Etihad on Wednesday night. Arsenal hit their ceiling a few weeks back, making this title race appear closer to the one Leicester City triumphed in in 2016. The difference from then to now is the Foxes were being pursued by north London’s finest, rather than the greatest ever Premier League squad.
To be fair, Arsenal are better than that Leicester side but this feels like a one-season-flash-in-the-pan as Newcastle, Liverpool and Man United are sure to address their respective weaknesses come summer.
Man City are out on their own. All talk of Erling Haaland making them a lesser force was rubbished this week. Sure, the argument still exists statistically but see how Pep Guardiola reshaped his starting XI to crush Arsenal.
Kevin De Bruyne performed in a traditional number 10 role, effortlessly combining with Haaland as Pep’s latest approach was to play long balls into the big Norwegian striker.
See the reaction of City players to Haaland’s 49th strike from 43 games. To a man, they were delighted for him, clearly wanting the 22-year-old to surpass Andy Cole’s record of 34 league goals in a single campaign. Such visible, collective motivation makes Man City a better outfit than before Haaland arrived.
But City remain, to my mind, an unreal club. The Premier League’s charges against their ownership for breaking financial rules, allegedly 115 times in nine years from 2009, ensures that an asterisk goes beside the three titles won in that period.
Even still, Wednesday night was sportswashing at its most effective; everyone glued to the screen as De Bruyne dismantled Mikel Arteta’s three-man central midfield. They could not handle the Belgian’s running and positioning. They could only body check and foul him, with Thomas Partey miles off the pace in all aspects of play, as he looked more interested in maintaining his pass completion percentage.
I’ve tried to live with midfielders of De Bruyne’s calibre, and it can be a torrid 90 minutes chasing shadows, but so much of Partey’s shabby performance was lack of awareness and slow reactions.
City, like a prize fighter, came straight at Arsenal – jab, jab, uppercut. The first goal came from direct ball to Haaland, when Partey failed to track De Bruyne, whose low finish was fantastic. With seven minutes clocked, Arteta’s strategy was destroyed by Ederson continually finding Haaland and De Bruyne running off him.
So simple, yet so effective, Arsenal came crashing down to earth. They were blessed it wasn’t 4-0 after 20 minutes.
No team can concede from John Stones’ header, after a failed man-marking job by Gabriel Magalhães, and expect to win the league. Even Bukayo Saka’s impact was nullified by Manuel Akanji, a right footer named at left back, patiently waiting for Saka to come off the wing.
Tactically, Guardiola exposed his former assistant but it was Arsenal’s players’ inability to hold possession that should see their pursuit of a first title for 19 years disintegrate in the coming weeks.
Hope lingers. Arteta’s men can end a four-match winless streak next Tuesday when Frank Lampard’s clueless Chelsea visit the Emirates. But they might falter at Newcastle the following Sunday. Success is out of their hands now as City will go four points clear by winning the two games in hand.
Against City every little weakness is exposed but Arsenal’s inability to contain Haaland and De Bruyne, or Phil Foden who played the same role to perfection for the last goal, was the key to the 4-1 thumping.
Here’s where my paragraph comes unstuck – this Arsenal group is likable, clearly a decent bunch of lads under Arteta’s leadership. But coping with repetitive tactics, as Haaland did a fine impression of fellow Norwegian Jostein Flo, is a prerequisite for any team intent on winning a trophy. Any trophy at all.
The result makes City odds-on to win a third title in a row, a fifth in six seasons. This possibility becomes probable when they are finishing matches with Foden, Julián Alvarez and Riyad Mahrez coming off the bench.
That’s a ridiculous trio to have as substitutes, but Guardiola cannot be accused of warehousing stars such as Raheem Sterling, João Cancello, Leroy Sané, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus who were allowed leave, the last two joining Arsenal.
Tuesday was football from another planet by a club under investigation for breaching financial fair play rules. That’s what makes it hard to swallow. It could be worse, they could be arrogant arseholes.
