3 takeaways from erratic draw between Arsenal, Manchester City

Manchester City twice surrendered the lead at Arsenal and will be the most perturbed of the pair in not taking all the spoils in Sunday's untidy but entertaining clash.

Somewhat unsurprisingly, two of the more attack-minded managers in the division were undone by miscommunication and poor positioning in their defences.

Leroy Sane and Sergio Aguero put City ahead when the home side's defence looked as if they'd gone for a hungover stroll through Hyde Park, while Arsenal's equalisers from Theo Walcott and Shkodran Mustafi came from lapses in concentration and poor delegation from the visitor's backline.

Here are three takeaways from the 2-2 draw in north London:

City's new midfield approach

David Silva, who's likely ahead of Raheem Sterling in the favourites for City's Player of the Year award, has prospered in a No. 8 role this term, but has often played it alongside Kevin De Bruyne. It's an inferior model to Xavi and Andres Iniesta's tasks at Barcelona under Pep Guardiola.

But in this weekend's test, the Spanish tactician presumably highlighted Arsenal's defensive midfield as a weak point - Granit Xhaka and Francis Coquelin are calamitous and positionally clueless, so Silva was going to get space regardless of being outnumbered - so he withdrew De Bruyne into a No. 6 spot for greater protection deeper in the park.

De Bruyne has cropped up there before for City in the slightly improved second-half showing in Monaco, and was most successfully installed there in Belgium's 8-1 smashing of Estonia last November, and here helped flood the midfield in the opening stanza. He advanced in the second period when Yaya Toure was introduced, but De Bruyne's combativeness and creativity could see him regularly switch duties there next season with a fit-again Ilkay Gundogan and emerging youngster Aleix Garcia.

Fernandinho, meanwhile, mopped up loose balls and stopped the Arsenal players that had forced their way through the barricade. He tired towards the end, but was back to his superb early-season form for much of the tie.

Arsenalitis

Arsenal being slammed for a lack of desire and work-rate has almost become cliched, but the evidence to supplement these claims keeps piling up.

Xhaka - a man who incredibly cost around £5 million more than Chelsea's manic metronome N'Golo Kante - habitually wanders and leaves gulfs in front of defence. Leaving Coquelin to put out fires is hazardous; and especially so when Xhaka addresses the emergency with the reluctance of a teenager skulking to detention:

In fairness to Xhaka, there is a catalogue of errors before he returns from grabbing a pie before the half-time queues. Mesut Ozil gives the ball away before the clip, Coquelin stands square to De Bruyne and then accommodatingly steps aside, and there is an overall lack of urgency from every red shirt except Laurent Koscielny, who does what's expected.

Murmurs of discontent had already polluted the Emirates Stadium's atmosphere, so addressing a City attack in such an apathetic manner - particularly when Walcott had scored against the run of play just moments earlier - worsened matters.

Until a decision is made on Wenger's future, the feeling around Arsenal will continue to be unsettled. When things aren't going the team's way, the atmosphere slides into toxicity.

Versatility vs. Familiarity

What's the best approach? An XI which seldom changes and is well-attuned to its job list, or one that is hard to predict due to a rotation in personnel and a malleable formation?

Guardiola certainly champions the latter, but it'll take a busy summer transfer window before it can really take hold.

The Jesus Navas experiment at right-back looked a disaster in the early stages. The limited winger was preferred there to a benched Pablo Zabaleta and midfield-deployed Fernandinho, and was booked after eight minutes. The fact that he wasn't corroded by the majority of Arsenal's attacks from then on was a missed trick, and Navas was allowed to settle.

But even if his numbers (eventually) stand up in this outing, the right-back spot, along with every other position in the backline, will be subject to wholesale changes from the season's final whistle.

There was also City's revised midfield and, when the languid Yaya Toure was introduced at the break, a shift in shape from a loose middle trio in a 4-3-3 to a more solid defensive outfield six with fluid attacking play up ahead in the closing half.

Then there's Wengers designs: 4-2-3-1, Ozil as a No. 10, Sanchez leaning left but compensating for the blunders of his teammates. It's the same week-in, week-out.

Whichever is your preferred approach - continuity or unpredictability - these two managers will continue to stubbornly adhere to their respective philosophies.

(Photos courtesy: Action Images)