When asked about his role in allowing Foden to secure a free header for the opener, Bruno gave a detailed explanation of the situation.
“I was attempting to press Rodri,” he said. “The strategy before the match was for one of the midfielders to mark Rodri while a defender should challenge Foden. In that moment, I could cover both, but Leny [Yoro] decided to move up. When I noticed him advancing, I shifted my focus more towards Rodri. [Josko] Gvardiol made a good pass to Foden, and Leny was caught retreating due to our miscommunication.”
“We ended up giving them too much space to advance up the pitch. This is why I emphasize the need to take more risks and be braver, pushing our defensive line higher, similar to how City operates. Whenever we played the ball back to our centre-backs, it resulted in a three-v-three situation, with the defensive line squeezed tightly together, making it tough to navigate through the lines as the spaces were very limited.”
“We can play with a back five, four, or three—whatever suits us. It is crucial for our players to be very aggressive during pressing moments. We must seize opportunities to press, otherwise, the midfielders will get overwhelmed. Take City for instance, with Rodri, Tijjani [Reijnders], and Bernardo [Silva] supporting Foden, they effectively created a four-on-two situation. The players behind need to step up; Luke [Shaw] was doing well against Tijjani. We managed to handle Arsenal well, restricting their ability to find spaces, which tightens the gaps for teams facing an aggressive opponent.”
“If you’re not bold enough in these situations, it becomes very challenging, and strong teams will exploit any spaces or gaps because they possess quality that allows them to find and utilize even the smallest openings.”
