A point may mean that our destiny is no longer in our own hands. A draw would have been the result Liverpool had craved. Yet in the long-term Arsenal’s 0-0 on Sunday is a scoreline that was huge mentally for our young squad and a turning point in our history.
I often preach your mental strength is crucial in sport, what separates the good from the great. The only way you gain that is by experiencing and gaining knowledge. While we surrendered our lead in the title race at the weekend, what we did at the Etihad will help us going to places like Old Trafford and the Allianz Arena.
The Gunners did something at Man City that previous versions have failed to do for nearly a decade. You could argue that not since the years of ‘Boring Boring’ Arsenal have we had the ability to do what we did at Easter.
For years we begged for Arsenal to be able to go to a tricky away ground and have the skill set to grind out a stalemate.
Make zero mistake; it’s a skillset to do what we did in Manchester. For all of their possession, the Champions had one shot on target. A failure of the home team to score at their house for the first time in 57 consecutive games. If that were a prime Jose Mourinho or Rafa Benitez it would be called a masterclass.
Gabriel and Saliba marshalled our back 4 like a John Terry in his peak. To focus for 90 minutes, to not mistime your tackle, to throw your body in the way, etc is an art form.
David Raya equally only had to make one save when these two faced at the Emirates. That’s not a coincidence. It’s Mikel Arteta tactically putting a plan together.
Not just is this a fixture we haven’t won in nearly a decade, usually we concede 3 – 5 goals. So even to get to half time still in the game was an improvement from previous years. Our manager also showed he has learnt, recognising the number of times we have conceded in the first 20 mins. This time we had the game management to get through the early storm.
This time we were not naive enough to say, ‘you play we play’, smart enough to realise our limitations.
Some pundits said we had to win to lift the Premiership. Others said we missed the chance with Pep Guardiola forced to play not his first choice back 5.
That’s thinking short term. This was an occasion that will help us in the future, an injection of confidence we can use when needed, a memory to draw upon when uncertain, a cape when we next feel we are falling, a blanket when we desire comfort.
I don’t know how costly this result will be in terms of the title race.
All I ever ask is Arsenal be the best version of themselves. That’s all I can ask.
For years we haven’t done that at the Etihad. We did on Sunday. A performance of maturity and proof that we are growing up. Mentally a turning point for this team.
Dan
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