Possession in soccer became fashionable thanks to Pep Guardiola. 15 years ago, when he took over as coach of that fantastic Barcelona that made history, the Catalan DT imposed possession of the ball as one of the essential conditions to deploy his football idea. The value of that percentage of ball possession was discussed and is still being discussed. How much influences and how much not in the final result. It has been shown, thousands of times, that it is something relative. And this Wednesday, even if it seems incredible, it was Manchester City himself who ratified it: in the 3-1 defeat against Arsenal he finished with just 36.4%, the lowest record for Pep’s team in the Premier League.
In the 251 games that Guardiola has led City in the Premier, since the 2016/17 season, he had never reached that low mark. The negative record was against Brighton, in the 2020/21 season with 37.3%. This percentage against Arsenal is the second lowest as manager of the Manchester team. The record is still against Barcelona, for the 2016/17 Champions League with 34.6%. What a coincidence: that game also ended in a 3-1 victory.
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At the Emirates and before his former assistant Mikel Arteta, the change of strategy worked for City. Pep opted to have less of the ball and to press, steal and attack as the main game plan. The striking thing, hand in hand with that low percentage of possession, was the few number of passes he completed in the match, just 219. And also the lack of effectiveness when it comes to passing the ball with 72% of passes completed. A percentage linked to the imprecision exhibited by those directed.
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Despite these figures, Guardiola’s men took a key victory. Now, With this victory, they reached Arsenal at the top of the Premier table, although Arteta’s men have one game less. Of course, a draw or loss would have left City in a very uncomfortable place, considering that the tournament has 15 dates left.
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Look at the match statistics:
The statistics of Arsenal-City.
The statistics of Arsenal-City.
The statistics of Arsenal-City.Look at the goals:
Manchester City – 16-2-2023
De Bruyne put City ahead
Premier League – 16-2-2023
Saka equalized it from a penalty
Premier League – 16-2-2023