The FA Cup semi final between Arsenal and Manchester City was an extremely interesting watch, and the former’s strategy in order to contain City’s midfield caught my attention. Arteta opted for a man to man approach in midfield; this is a high risk strategy because when

man marking, you can easily be dragged around via clever movement from your direct opponent, and consequently spaces begin to open up in dangerous areas which can be exploited by the opposition. However, on the day, Arteta’s strategy was largely successful.

Guardiola deployed a 4231 in the first half, which consisted of a double pivot of Gundogan + De Bruyne who were man marked by Lacazette (deep CF) and Xhaka (high CM) respectively. Ceballos was man marking David Silva who was operating BTL. So, Arsenal’s shape out of possession

in the first half was predominantly a 514; Xhaka advanced as KDB was deep, Ceballos the lone CM to contain Silva’s high position. Arsenal were able to prevent City from progressing the ball through their shape often by committing 3-4 players to their first line of press

(front three + Xhaka). This led to a few turnovers in advanced positions which led to goalscoring opportunities for Arsenal. As a result, City were forced long and looked for their front three BTL, however, in response, Arsenal’s CB’s matched the aggressiveness of the CM’s

and stepped out of the defensive line to win aerial duels and successfully challenge 50/50s. This, again, led to numerous turnovers in the middle of the pitch in Arsenal’s favour and presented many opportunities to play through City’s open shape (because they were transitioning)

Even when David Silva dropped deep, Ceballos followed and abandoned the space BTL, as Arteta trusted his CB’s to win duels and not allow City players to turn and attack their backline face on.

In the second half, Guardiola opted for a different strategy. Having realised City’s struggles to progress the ball centrally, he reverted back to his usual 433 formation.

This saw De Bruyne operate wider in his familiar right half-space, and Silva operate closer to the left half-space. This was an attempt to drag Arsenal’s CM’s wider due to the man to man approach in midfield, and create space for Sterling, who operated centrally in the 2nd half.

However, to combat this, Arteta continued with the same man to man approach in the middle, but instructed his wide MFers (Pepe right, Aubameyang left) to defend in narrow positions and protect the half-spaces.

By doing this, Arsenal were able to create central congestion which meant City struggled to progress the ball centrally and create chances. As a result, Arsenal forced City wide in attack and therefore all but nullified their central attacking threat.

Overall, Arteta’s offensive strategy in midfield paid off, and Arsenal were able to contain City’s midfielders by man marking them, as well as creating central congestion when Pep attempted to create space for his wide MF’ers drifting inside.