“I like to see teams play" - Gael Clichy admits he was 'disappointed' with Arsenal duo in 0-0 Manchester City draw
Former Manchester City defender Gael Clichy stated that he was frustrated with how deep Arsenal forwards Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka dropped against the Cityzens. The two sides played out a dull 0-0 draw as the Gunners took up a conservative approach in their Premier League encounter on Sunday, March 31.
Saka started on the right-wing for Mikel Arteta's men and Gabriel Jesus was the starting left-winger, with Gabriel Martinelli unable to feature from the beginning.
Clichy told Premier League Productions (via HITC):
“You know Man City, they will have possession and you know you will help them on transition on the second ball. This is what you (Jesus and Saka) can’t do when you are so deep. Even when you collect the ball, you have more than 50-60 meters to go again."
"That’s what we said, with the fullbacks/wing-backs Man City are using, at the moment. You can give yourself a chance to be a little bit higher as a winger and ask your fullbacks for a bit more energy to close them down. I know it’s hard, but you have to take risks and without risks, you aren’t going anywhere."
Clichy also explained what the Gunners could have done differently, saying:
“I like to see teams play. To see Arsenal with the wingers coming very deep, when I say disappointed, I am not disappointed because they didn’t play well. I think they played really well with the game plan they had. You always think, with the quality they had, they could try to go and do something. I think they really had this. It’s the only team that could do this to Man City and it’s the only reason I am disappointed.”
The hosts enjoyed 73% possession in the fixture but had only one shot on target against an organized performance from Mikel Arteta's side.
Fascinating stat comes to light as Manchester City held to goalless draw by Arsenal
Premier League title contenders Manchester City and Arsenal played out a drab 0-0 draw. The result meant that Liverpool moved to the top of the table following their win over Brighton & Hove Albion.
Against the Gunners, City failed to score at the Etihad for the first time in 47 Premier League games. The last time Pep's side had gone without scoring at home in the league was back in October 2021, during a 2-0 loss to Crystal Palace.
With the two sides playing conservatively, the game saw just three shots on target (one from the hosts and two from Arsenal). It was only one of three games this season to have three or less shots on goal, with the reverse fixture (1-0 Gunners win in October) also being one among them.