Arsenal’s problem was not Wenger’s gameplan but Mustafi’s feebleness

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Arsenal’s tactics rattled Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final until an error allowed Agüero to score – though City may be good enough to win in the face of any barriers

Football is full of Sliding Doors moments. What if Paul Gascoigne had stretched two inches further and got his toe to that cross in the Euro 96 semi-final? What if Jan Verheyen’s late winner for Belgium that would have meant the Netherlands failing to qualify for the 1974 World Cup hadn’t been wrongly ruled out for offside? What if one of the 73 penalties Chelsea believe they were owed against Barcelona in the 2009 Champions League semi-final had been given and converted?

Dynasties, as Pep Guardiola knows, can hinge on the tiniest details. What if Shkodran Mustafi hadn’t reacted to a slight nudge in the back from Sergio Agüero with all the resolve of a flighty Victorian maiden glimpsing a mouse, throwing out his arms in horror and desperately hoping somebody, anybody – a trusted servant, a passing dragoon, Craig Pawson – might help? What if he’d actually done a basic bit of defending and grappled back? What if he hadn’t got on the wrong side in the first place? What if he’d chased and put pressure on Agüero so he couldn’t measure a far from easy finish over David Ospina?

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from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/feb/26/arsenal-arsene-wenger-shkodran-mustafi-manchester-city-carabao-cup-final

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