Manuel Akanji labeled Arsenal as experts in football’s ‘dark arts,’ but asserted that it won’t be sufficient to dethrone Manchester City.
Following Sunday’s tense 2-2 draw, City players Bernardo Silva and John Stones criticized Arsenal for their time-wasting tactics. Akanji joined in the criticism, stating that Arteta and his squad thrive on the “drama” of such tactics.
When asked if Arsenal excel in these tactics, Akanji replied, “I don’t think many teams do it better than them. However, we consistently won the title, and I don’t believe this year will be any different.
“In every challenge and free-kick awarded, they fell to the ground. Players go down only to get back up and sprint again, then go down once more; one of their players even instructed the keeper to go down and do similar things.
“I mean, there’s nothing we can do about it. Ultimately, it’s the referee’s responsibility to manage these situations throughout the entire season. But we really can’t control it.
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“That’s their strategy. Whenever we face them, they aim for the drama, being aggressive in tackles, and defending with all 11 players in their box, then trying to capitalize on set pieces to score.
“We can’t control time-wasting; that’s up to the referee to address. In the end, it’s clearly difficult to score against a team that has 10 players, including the goalkeeper, in their own box.”
“It worked for them, so if they’re satisfied with the point, that’s fine. We’re not; we aimed for more, but that’s what they’re content with. At the end of the day, we’re still at the top of the league and haven’t lost a game yet.
“We made an effort, especially in the second half when we had one more player, but it’s tough to break through when 10 players are defending in their own box. We pushed until the end, and fortunately, we managed to score a goal and secure one point.”
Akanji also suggested that referee Michael Oliver contributed to Arsenal’s equalizer by not giving City captain Kyle Walker enough time to regain his defensive position for a free-kick.
“I saw it,” Akanji stated. “Kyle and [Bukayo] Saka were summoned to speak with the referee. Normally, when a substitution occurs, you wait for the player to get back into position. Walker definitely wasn’t back, and they took the free-kick quickly. They scored from it; what more can I say?”