It is not going to be easy for Arsenal to peg back the prolific Manchester City attack in tomorrow’s Caraboa Cup Final, and we all hope that Arsene Wenger has got his tactics in place to nullify the amazing strike force that Pep Guardiola has got at his disposal.
The Boss managed last season in the FA Cup semi-final in their last meeting at Wembley, but can he do it again tomorrow. According to the ex-Liverpool star Steve Nicol, Wenger should take note of how Jurgen Klopp managed to inflict City’s only League defeat earlier this season.
“I think they have to look at what Liverpool did,” Nicol said. “Close them really early and high. If they’re going to do it, then they need to get players on the field who can get around.
“I think they have to go with a 3-5-2, that’s what I would do. I would have legs up front, (Pierre-Emerick) Aubameyang and (Danny) Welbeck.
“I would play five in the middle to make sure they can squeeze high and have three at the back, which will probably end up in stages being five.
“But that’s what you need against Manchester City, they fling that many players forward that you need numbers to defend against them.”
The only problem is that Wenger rarely changes tactics depending on who his opponents are, and Nicol doesn’t think he will consider changing Arsenal’s normal game plan. “Well you talk about stubborn, Wenger will go out and try and do what they do and that’s ‘well this is how we play and this is how we’ll do it’,” the ex-Scotland international added.
“That’s what they did against Tottenham and got blasted. It finished 1-0 but it should have been four or five.”
So will Wenger surprise us all (including Liverpool) by trying a new formation? Or do you think he will stick to our normal game?
Admin