Carragher admits he 'felt for' Arsenal's centre-backs against Man City

Jamie Carragher admits he ‘felt for’ Arsenal centre-backs Rob Holding and Gabriel Magalhaes during Man City’s 4-1 rout at the Etihad – as Gary Neville suggests Mikel Arteta should have switched to a back three at half time

• Manchester City hammered title rivals Arsenal 4-1 at the Etihad on Wednesday
• Erling Haaland and Kevin de Bruyne ran circles around Arsenal’s centre-halves
• But Jamie Carragher has insisted just how difficult the City pair were to defend 

Jamie Carragher has admitted he felt sorry for Rob Holding and Gabriel Magalhaes during Manchester City’s 4-1 annihilation of Arsenal at the Etihad on Wednesday.

The Gunners centre-backs struggled to deal with Manchester City’s masterful attackers all night, as Kevin de Bruyne and Erling Haaland put on a show to take a significant advantage in the Premier League title race.

De Bruyne fired the hosts ahead in the seventh minute before teeing up John Stones for a bullet header just before the break, helping City go in at half-time two goals to the good.

The reigning champions continued to dazzle Arsenal during the second-half, as De Bruyne coolly slotted home his second in the 54th minute and Haaland bagged his 33rd league goal of the season in added time after Holding’s late consolation goal.

Holding, who has been standing in for injured centre-half William Saliba, was outmuscled by Haaland in the build-up to De Bruyne’s opener and continued to struggle with the Norwegian hitman throughout the rest of the contest.

Gary Neville (left) and Jamie Carragher (right) analysed Manchester City’s 4-1 win over Arsenal

Arsenal’s centre-halves Rob Holding (right) and Gabriel Magalhaes (not pictured) struggled to deal with Manchester City superstar Erling Haaland (blue shirt) during the crucial six-pointer

Meanwhile, De Bruyne was operating almost as a shadow striker and put in a sensational performance against the Gunners, who didn’t know how to cope with the Belgian’s ever-changing position between the lines.

Despite their substandard defensive display, Carragher admitted he ‘felt for’ the Arsenal centre-halves  while analysing the match with punditry partner Gary Neville.

‘For me, you’re in that situation and you know you’ve got a problem on the halfway line. As a centre-back, you know the quality around you – and Erling Haaland’s there,’ the Liverpool legend told The Overlap.

‘(Haaland) was like (Didier) Drogba. I’ve found myself in this position before – it’s a physical mismatch. You’re thinking: “How can I cope with him physically?”

‘He couldn’t cope. Sometimes I think, just give a foul away. Just stop the game. Because you don’t want space in behind for them to play that little one-two and Haaland to start making a run.

‘Sometimes we forget how quick De Bruyne is. De Bruyne is lightning quick and that’s a problem playing against him with his pace. For me, in terms of Holding and Gabriel, as a centre-back watching them, I felt for them. I don’t think they got anywhere near enough protection.’

Carragher admitted he ‘felt for’ the Arsenal centre-backs and claims they weren’t protected

The Manchester United legend claimed that Mikel Arteta should have switched to a back three

Neville went on to propose that Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta should have changed his shape at half time, deploying three centre-halves by bringing on Kieran Tierney as a left-sided defender.

He suggested that the Spaniard should have recognised Arsenal’s frailties at the back heading into the crucial six-pointer, having shipped multiple goals against Southampton, Liverpool and West Ham in their last three Premier League games.

‘Look, we’ve talked about it quite a lot about managers who played the same way irrespective of match that they’re in nowadays,’ Neville said.

‘We did the stat after the Southampton game, but Arsenal have started to ship goals now over quite a decent period of time now. Southampton score three, Liverpool score two, West Ham score two, even Lisbon I think scored two in a game. 

‘Forget the fact that you’re top. Ultimately, you’re conceding goals. Coming to Manchester City in a game like this, I think it warranted potentially looking at the game differently. I didn’t see any plan from Arsenal to make it difficult and stop them. 

Manchester City’s dominant victory has put them in control in the Premier League title race

Haaland’s display drew likeness to Chelsea legend Didier Drogba, according to Carragher 

‘Even at half time – we thought the game had gone to be fair – I wondered whether he would bring on Tierney as a left centre-back with Gabriel and (Ben) White and play a three, with (Oleksandr) Zinchenko as a left wing-back and maybe (Bukayo) Saka or somebody as a right wing-back.

‘He still could have kept (Gabriel) Jesus, (Gabriel) Martinelli and (Martin) Odegaard up front and had (Thomas) Partey and (Granit) Xhaka in central midfield. Even that would have meant you have a three and a two. 

‘It’s more covered, you could build up a base in the game and if you get a goal back, any crowd, any team (could make a comeback).

‘With Martinelli and Saka, who’ve been leaders for Arsenal this year, that’s probably the quietest and most ineffective we’ve seen them all season.’

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