Arsenal’s defeat to City is first step on the path of progress

The joke firing its way around social media on Sunday afternoon was that Arsenal’s new-found enthusiasm and optimism lasted all but 15 minutes.

That was how long it took Raheem Sterling to fire in the opening goal of the game following an opening exchange that had Arsenal supporters sinking into their chairs in all-too-familiar dread. City’s highly polished, relentlessly practiced and devastating style of play tore through an Arsenal team that looked like it had studied for the big exam only the night before.

But while it’s tempting to moan about the “same old Arsenal”, it’s important to realise that failure is a necessary step on the path of progress.

Unai Emery arrived at Arsenal aiming to integrate three basic principles: to be progressive and courageous with the ball, to press and harry without the ball, and to work hard every game to become a team the fans can be proud of.

The six weeks of pre-season he had shown the fans some encouraging signs that progress was being made on meeting these principles, but, ultimately, they were just signs. It would have taken a miracle to change a team so embedded in the culture and image of its previous manager in such a short space of time.

While City exploited the weaknesses in Arsenal’s approach, fans should at least take heart from what the team is trying to accomplish.

Arsenal’s attempts to play out from the back frustrated the Emirates crowd, who cheered when Petr Cech ushered his team up the field for a goal kick instead of passing it short to a centre back.

Against one of the best pressing sides in the business, Arsenal’s back three of Cech, Shkodran Mustafi and Sokratis Papastathopoulos were timid and limited. To play around the City press with these players was too much to ask too soon, but the approach should not be abandoned right away.

Coping with the opposition press has been a weakness of Arsenal in recent seasons. Learning how to deal with it and turn it into their advantage is a crucial part of the team’s development. For Emery, this will be valuable feedback.

Débutante Matteo Guendouzi gets stuck in

A more successful change was the introduction of their own high press. Arsenal’s attempts at pressing the opposition last season often left them exposed to counter attacks and contributed to a below average defensive record.

Against City, a greater conviction and organisation was present. The team pressed depending on the position of the ball, before falling back into a 4-4-2 shape when the press wasn’t on.

Arsenal forced errors out of City numerous times, something that should encourage Emery and the fans. This was a notable improvement for a team so often disorganised and passive out of possession last season.

City are the Champions for a reason. Their ability to adapt to any opposition, exploit their weaknesses and impose their game is formidable. For Arsenal to lose to this side is no great shame, nor does it mean that progress will forever be beyond them.

This should be treated as page one on the journey; a marker for the fans and team to look back on in a year’s time to see how far they’ve come.

There will be more frustrations to come as this group of players come to grips with what Emery’s demanding of them.

Inevitably, this will clash with the fans’ hunger for change and success following the Wenger era. Having experienced enough failure in the previous two seasons, the fanbase isn’t keen on experiencing even more.

Yet, it’s important for fans to remain patient. It will take time to fix all the things that were broken.

Arsenal do not yet have the quality in defence to play out around the best presses, nor have they settled on the best configuration for their midfield and attack.

Spending time outside of the Champions League will hinder their ability to mingle with the best of them, as evidenced by their recent transfer window. One transfer window cannot undo several years of mistakes and mismanagement.

Nonetheless, for an Arsenal fan, it should be encouraging to see a concerted effort to change. As time goes by, they should see the fruits of those efforts.