Gary Neville's 'one tick pony' theory after surprise Pep Guardiola call in Arsenal vs Man City

Manchester City took an unusual approach at Arsenal with Pep Guardiola deploting a defensive style of play against Mikel Arteta's team in North London

Gary Neville has had his say on Pep Guardiola's tactics during Sunday's 1-1 draw at Arsenal. Manchester City deployed an uncharacteristic approach at Mikel Arteta's team over the weekend, with Guardiola's men having just 33 per cent possession in North London.

City's approach appeared to have given them an advantage after striker Erling Haaland gave the visitors an early lead. Guardiola's team then held firm for much of the contest until Gabriel Martinelli's finish in stoppage time rescued a point.

City's tactics against Arsenal have generated plenty of debate, with the Blues sacrificing their possession-based style for a more defensive approach against one of this season's Premier League title favourites.

And former Manchester United captain, turned Sky Sports pundit, Neville has had his say on City and how the fixture played out between two of English football's heavyweights.

"It was not a game I was expecting," he said on The Gary Neville Podcast. "I was expecting it to be tough in the sense that both teams know each other, and I think Arsenal, we know how they play in respect to their defensive strength, and they don't give a lot of chances away.

"I thought that it might be hard to create moments, but how it played out, obviously City getting the early goal and then Pep resorting to a way of playing that I've never seen before, but I really liked it.

"It wasn't a criticism when I was talking during the game; I really enjoyed the fact that he went to 5-4-1. He decided that he was just going to manage the game without the ball and play on the counter-attack with only one forward on the pitch in the end.

"He had four midfield players and five defenders, and they looked so comfortable. There was just nothing happening at all, and then obviously that late moment happened, and the spoils are shared."

Neville then shared his theories on City's approach at the Emirates Stadium. He added: "I think the reason Pep's done that is that he is recognising that Arsenal are a one-trick pony.

"Set-pieces are just such a large percentage of their chances and goals that you end up in a situation where you've just got to have big players in the box and a goalkeeper who comes and punches, and if you don't, you're going to get beat up on corners and set-pieces and free-kicks.

"So, I think it was a response to that and knowing what Arteta would do, that they would press hard, they would get more corners, they would get more play, and he's got nine giants on the pitch just to be able to head it, and they did it absolutely perfectly. At one point, every time a long throw-in came in and every time a corner came in, it was almost as if they were saying, 'more', we will deal with that, there's no problem whatsoever.

"But it was unusual because I always remember going back to Pep Guardiola's first season in England, and it wasn't a successful season if you remember. They didn't win the league in that first season, and he said that the reason that they were conceding, he said it wasn't because they didn't have the physicality, it was because they didn't keep the ball well enough.

"Then beyond that for the last six, seven, eight years we've just seen them dominate possession, less so maybe in the last two years, but when they were at their absolute best you knew they'd be 1-0 up but they'd have 70, 80 per cent of the ball and the other team would be chasing shadows and you'd be able to get nowhere.

"This is a completely different Manchester City; it's a complete turnaround. It's a 180, and to see him do that in the final parts of the game, the idea of adapting, there's a lot of questions asked of managers about do they adapt and are they agile enough if things change in games.

"I know he loves football, but maybe he has adapted because of the players he has. He's recruited those players, and they are more physical. They haven't got the technical ability of David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne, and all those players we've seen in the last few years. Don't get me wrong, there's still some really good players out there for City, but it's a different Manchester City and I enjoy it."

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