Even Pep had to 'park the bus' at Man City

23/09/2025 08:38:00 SportScoop

The 1-1 draw between Man City and Arsenal at Emirates marked a memorable milestone in Pep Guardiola's career. With only 32.8% possession, it was the first time a Pep-led team recorded such a low possession rate in a top-flight league match.

Man City no longer showed their usual dominance with ball control; instead, they accepted a deep defensive posture, gave up the initiative, and focused on tight defending.

A Different Man City

Pep Guardiola has long been recognized for his attacking football philosophy, ball control, and game dominance. Tiki-taka, short passing, and creative playmaking have been his hallmark from Barcelona and Bayern Munich to Man City. However, at Emirates, Man City displayed a completely different image.

They held possession only 32.8%, the lowest in the history of Pep’s teams in the top league. Arsenal had 39 touches inside Man City's penalty area, while the visitors only had 8. Instead of counting passes as usual, the focus shifted to clearances: Rodri led with 11, Josko Gvardiol had 9, and the team made a total of 60 clearances.

To tackle Arsenal, whom Pep called "the most solid team in the Premier League," he adopted a rarely seen pragmatic tactic. The two full-backs, Khusanov and O'Reilly, were chosen not for attacking skills but for their physique and defensive abilities. Khusanov made an impressive tackle on Leandro Trossard reminiscent of Kyle Walker. When Nathan Ake replaced Phil Foden, Man City shifted to a three-center-back formation. When John Stones came on, the lineup even featured four center-backs, with one playing left-back. Pep's approach discouraged Arsenal until the final moments when Martinelli scored a delicate lob to equalize.

Pep also used Mourinho-style tactics. Man City slowed the game down, ran down the clock, and Donnarumma received a yellow card in the 77th minute for time-wasting. Small disputes with opponents were also part of Pep’s plan to disrupt Arsenal’s rhythm. Substituting Erling Haaland, who scored the opening goal, with Nico Gonzalez was a daring decision, leaving the team almost playing a 5-5-0 formation without a true striker. This limited their ability to break the press and contributed to the late goal conceded. After the match, Pep admitted: "I don’t like this style of play. I want the ball closer to David Raya’s goal rather than Gigi Donnarumma’s."

Pep’s Man City held less than 33% possession in the 1-1 draw against Arsenal

Just temporary?

Although having to defend in a way contrary to their usual style, Man City showed admirable fighting spirit, which Pep emphasized as a "comeback" after an unstable 2024-25 season. He said: "I have talked many times about body language, how we celebrate, communicate, and strive for each other. Last season, we lost that. This season, I want to see that spirit return, regardless of the result." This spirit was evident in how Man City players united to withstand Arsenal’s pressure. They endured 11 corners without conceding a goal.

Haaland’s opening goal, coming from a quick counterattack starting in their own half, demonstrated the effectiveness of the direct style Pep is experimenting with. However, he admitted that with a congested schedule, this style is hard to maintain long-term. "When you play every three days, you cannot keep that intensity. We need to control the game more," Pep said. Despite only earning 7 points from 5 rounds—the worst performance since 2006/07—the draw at Emirates was a valuable point, especially as Man City were considered underdogs against an in-form Arsenal.

Pep expressed pride in the team’s resilience, though he admitted it was "hard" watching them defend so deep. "We almost won, but Arsenal were too strong," he said. This match was not just a point but proof of Pep’s adaptability.

Though he does not want to "park the bus" every week, he showed willingness to abandon his usual philosophy to get results. If Pep can combine this pragmatism with his attacking principles, he could create a more formidable Man City than ever before.

Before reaching the 32.8% possession mark in the recent draw against Arsenal, Pep Guardiola’s previous low record was 36.5%. Coincidentally, it also came from a match against Arsenal in March 2023. Then, Man City played pragmatically and counterattacked effectively. Haaland, De Bruyne, and Grealish scored after Arsenal initially led from Saka’s penalty. There have only been 4 instances of Pep’s Man City holding under 40% possession in the Premier League (including the two matches against Arsenal in 2023 and 2025; 46.74% in a 2-1 win over Chelsea in 2019; and 37.2% in a 2-3 loss to Brighton in 2021).

Vu Manh

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