“We have to go game by game and concentrate on having a game-plan and trying to implement it. That has been our strength against the big teams and it makes us stronger as a unit.”
Player Ratings: Arsenal vs Manchester City
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Arsene Wenger once again adapted his tactics to allow Manchester City to have more possession and to play on the counter-attack.
Drawing comparisons with their 2-0 success over Bayern Munich in the Champions League, Arsenal were rewarded with two excellent goals from Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud. They could have had more but for fine keeping from Joe Hart and were made to sweat in the final minutes following Yaya Toure’s fine goal.
Mertesacker still feels Arsenal’s display showed their ability to win games in more than one way, unlike in previous years.
He added: “We are capable of doing different things sometimes and that is what makes it harder for the opponent. That is why we implement them into games but we are still dangerous on the counter-attack and that makes us a real threat.
“Last season we played at City and we showed some different kind of match-plan. That is what we had in the locker already but this year we are more consistent and it is what makes us a bit better as a unit.
“Sometimes we need to adjust, as we don’t have all the players available at the minute.
“We think that is the best way to win against City but we need to trust that way as well — it is not only thinking about it, it is also about putting it in to practice.
“That is what we are doing really well at the minute but that means a lot of concentration and work in training and everyone in the game is up for the challenge. When I see our players up front working as hard as they did that makes a difference for us defenders, it makes it much more easier to defend our goal.”
Arsenal will face Bournemouth just two days after taking on Southampton. Speaking about the busy festive period, Mertesacker said: “We need to find solutions. That is how we approach things, we aren’t going to go looking for excuses.”
