Country: Iceland
Skarphéðinn, you're genuinely in contention for most improved poster of 2019. Keep your chin up!
Im one of all time greats here!
Skarphéðinn, you're genuinely in contention for most improved poster of 2019. Keep your chin up!
The Athletic is worth it. It’s a great publication. Great articles with good tactical information.Being endorsed by Coxy, my actual drug
Tried to copy but on my phone and it’s extremely detailed / diagram heavy, so doesn’t copy well at all.
Best to wait until someone pastes a proper copy on reddit or something. Or you could just subscribe (well worth it IMO) if you want the full hit of tactical geekery now.
Do it! It’s well worth it!I have been really tempted to subscribe. If I see one more interesting article hidden behind their paywall I might bite the bullet.
Lee Dixon is a bit talky though. He really sucks up all the air when he goes on about something.Yeah it’s elite. Can barely keep up with all the football content, and their American sports offering (I love the NFL) is insane.
Their new arsenal podcast is also my go-to for following Arsenal now. Ian Stone from the Tuesday club hosts, with Lee Dixon, Gunnerblog and Amy Lawrence. Would highly recommend if you aren’t already listening.
Trying to be optimistic! Tired of all the bad vibes! I want us and myself to be happy supporters for a change. It might backfire but for now I am going to jump on the bandwagon hard! :bounce:This post would carry more weight were it not for your sensationalist signature
In modern tactics, starting formation is just a reference of how a team would set up when defending.Personally, I don’t believe this is the type of team that Arteta envisions. Right now, he’s making the most of our situation with the players at our disposal. I find it hard to believe that a La Masia graduate and a student of Pep, wouldn’t move to a 4-3-3 but I don’t think we have the midfielders for that. I reckon when Özil’s contract is up, he’ll shift to a 3 man midfield or even as soon as the next preseason.
A very detailed and accurate analysis.In terms of results, it’s been a mixed bag for Mikel Arteta so far – a draw against Bournemouth, a defeat to Chelsea and then a victory over Manchester United.
But in terms of performances, it’s been almost entirely positive. Arteta has been in charge for less than a fortnight, and hasn’t had many training sessions with his squad amongst almost incessant fixtures over the Christmas period, but Arsenal already have a clearly-defined identity under the Spaniard.
There are three obvious improvements from the Unai Emery days: there’s a defined system, the side’s playmakers are being fielded in their best positions and getting on the ball regularly, and the pressing is considerably more intense.
In terms of formation, Arsenal are — on paper — playing a 4-2-3-1. In reality, they’re playing a very compact 4-4-2 in the defensive phase, which is routine for sides playing in a 4-2-3-1, but doing something very different when they have the ball. Arsenal are morphing into a 2-3-5, which is unsurprisingly reminiscent of how Pep Guardiola often formats Manchester City, and also not entirely dissimilar from what Jose Mourinho is attempting to do with Tottenham.
Arteta’s approach is similar to that of Mourinho, in that it involves him pushing one full-back aggressively forward on the overlap to become a fifth forward, while the opposite full-back tucks inside. While Mourinho’s second full-back becomes an extra centre-back, Arteta is using Guardiola’s ‘half-back’ policy, pushing him infield to become an extra central midfielder.
Here’s a good example of that system, from early in the 1-1 draw at Bournemouth. Lucas Torreira (No 11) has the ball in the centre of midfield. To his left is Granit Xhaka, notionally his only partner in the 4-2-3-1. But to his right is Ainsley Maitland-Niles (No 15), having moved infield from right-back.
Arteta’s intention here is to guard against opponents counter-attacking quickly through Arsenal’s lines if there’s a turnover of possession, and forming this narrow trio offers good protection for the defence. It also suits both Maitland-Niles, a reluctant full-back who considers himself more of a midfielder, and the left-footed Xhaka, who is comfortable towards that side of the pitch.
Maitland-Niles played that role most overtly against Bournemouth, a little more conventionally against Chelsea before playing somewhere between the two roles against United. This situation, with David Luiz playing a long pass downfield, shows the positioning of Maitland-Niles and Xhaka, again either side of Torreira.
This 2-3 formation allows for Arsenal to use an effective front five without sacrificing defensive structure. Here’s another example from the Bournemouth game – again, Maitland-Niles and Xhaka are either side of Torreira, and the two centre-backs are in position…
… and as the move develops and the camera pans forward, the front five becomes clear.
On the right, Reiss Nelson played as a conventional winger. Özil, the No 10, was given a defined inside-right role, always receiving the ball in that pocket of space. Alexandre Lacazette leads the line, while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is given license to move inside and become a second striker in an inside-left position, thanks to the aggressive overlapping of Bukayo Saka. A little like Maitland-Niles, Saka’s best position is somewhat undefined — he’s somewhere between a full-back and a winger, and therefore this overlapping role suits him well.
And Arsenal’s main route of attack against Bournemouth was getting Saka over on the far side. His end product was disappointing, but there were various situations that justified the use of the system, like when Özil drifted inside from the right and found him on the overlap…
… and also when Xhaka played good forward passes for Saka to run onto, with four targets in the middle…
Here’s an alternative perspective, from the second half – again, an obvious midfield three and a front five, with Saka and Nelson hugging the touchlines and stretching the play across the entire width of the pitch.
This formation contributed to the clearest chance Arsenal created against Bournemouth, when Bournemouth’s defence became so stretched to cope with Arsenal’s attack that there was an alarming space between the centre-backs, allowing David Luiz to thread a pass through to Lacazette, whose shot was stopped by a last-ditch block.
And the front five was obvious for Arsenal’s equaliser – Özil’s touch back for Nelson prompted a shot which was deflected into the path of Aubameyang to turn home at the far post.
The front five was also obvious for Arsenal’s opener against Manchester United on New Year’s Day. This time it was Sead Kolasinac playing as the overlapping left-back, and Nicolas Pepe as the permanent right-winger, but the shape was identical. Here, with Kolasinac making a run inside Aubameyang and collecting a pass in behind the defence, his cut-back found its way through to Pepe at the far post.
That system was by design rather than accident — two minutes later they were in exactly the same shape, with Pepe again wanting the ball at the far post.
And here’s further evidence of the front five: Pepe has two options of a pass to the left, with Aubameyang free, and Kolasinac again sprinting forward down the outside.
In terms of individuals, the performances of Özil have been particularly promising. Whereas the German was in and out of the side — and sometimes the match-day squad —under Emery, his former team-mate Arteta evidently appreciates his quality. Not only has Özil been handed an important role in the side, Arsenal have continually been able to find him between the lines. The passing of David Luiz has been useful here — few Premier League defenders are so adept at breaking the lines with forward passes. Here’s a good example from the early stages against Bournemouth.
But the key player in Özil’s improvement has been Torreira, handed the key role at the base of Arsenal’s midfield. He’s continually fizzed passes into Özil in that inside-right position, with this example against Bournemouth showing how Özil’s positioning has pulled the opposition left-back inside and created space for Nelson on the outside.
Often, the amount of space Özil has found himself in has been extraordinary…
Perhaps the best example of the Torreira-Özil relationship, though, came just eight minutes into the Arteta reign. Not only did Torreira have the confidence to receive the ball with his back to play in a dangerous position…
… he also received the ball in the right manner to turn and play it into Özil on the run…
… and, sure enough, there’s the four other components in that front five —Nelson and Saka stretching the play, Lacazette running into the gap between the centre-backs and Aubameyang moving into that inside-left position.
This neat move against Chelsea, with Özil dummying Maitland-Niles’ pass and letting it run into the path of the onrushing Torreira, also hinted that Arsenal’s two most creative players are on the same wavelength.
Another positive has been Arsenal’s pressing. Against Bournemouth there was great energy about their play, getting men around the ball quickly to put opponents under pressure with multiple opponents.
This situation led to an Aubameyang winning the ball in a dangerous position and having a shot…
… this incident out wide led to Nelson (No 24) winning possession, dribbling forward and having a decent effort from the edge of the box.
Against Chelsea the pressing had a slightly different impact. Arsenal didn’t manage to win possession in advanced positions regularly, but it did force Chelsea into aimless long balls downfield in the opening stages, an issue that was only solved once Frank Lampard made a first-half substitution and introduced Jorginho to offer more passing options in deep positions. That said, there was also a good example of counter-pressing 13 minutes from time, when Aubameyang lost the ball, he and Nelson (circled below) pressured N’Golo Kante to regain possession immediately, and Joe Willock curled a shot just wide. That miss proved crucial, as Arsenal then conceded twice in the final 10 minutes.
Against United, meanwhile, Arsenal’s pressing seemed more deliberate, and more intelligent. Here, after 10 minutes, Nemanja Matic finds his path blocked by three Arsenal players, so decides to go backwards to Harry Maguire.
Maguire’s first intention is to switch the ball towards the right of the defence, but before he receives possession, on the far side Aubameyang is already sprinting forward to discourage a pass towards either Aaron Wan-Bissaka or Victor Lindelof.
Maguire recognises the danger of that pass…
… but then, pressured by Lacazette, plays the ball straight to Pepe.
Here’s a similar situation, this time when David de Gea has the ball. Lindelof, on the far side, is gesturing for the ball but Lacazette makes an angled run to cut off the passing angle and force De Gea to the near side, where Arsenal are ready to press…
… De Gea plays the ball to Maguire, who is again tempted to pass to Lindelof but gets spooked by Aubameyang’s pressing, and therefore launches the ball out for an Arsenal throw-in. Arsenal continually forced this type of mistake.
I feared for tactical side of Arteta and thought he would need to gain a little experience there but so far it has been very positive from him. I wanted Arteta before Emery because I knew he would not be......
@hydrofluoric acidI do think Arteta is a good manager after watching our recent games, although I think his in game tactical change is not on the same level as Guardiola’s yet.
I think he is a good manager and this is a conclusion made from:
1 Ignoring factors that are irrelevant to his true ability (press conference, social media, his look...)
2 Analyse relevant factors eg. the matches we played (his tactical plan, in game tactical change, players attitude). And of course there are other factors that we can’t see much eg. training methods, video/stats analysis, transfers suggestions ...
My opinion is just formed from a sample size of 3 matches, so I wouldn’t say I’m so sure that I will be right.
Where is the logic in your statement?
You feared the tactical side of Arteta but you think he will be a great manager?
It’s like saying you are not sure of someone’s teaching ability but you are so sure that he will be a good teacher.
Yep, I'm wasted on here. No appreciation for the finest dad jokes.My only fear for the next generation is that they won't appreciate the genius of this post for years to come.
Question: When Emery (remember him) joined, the players closed down as a pack for a couple of games. Then it stopped. Forever.
Anyone recall how long it lasted for?
Question: When Emery (remember him) joined, the players closed down as a pack for a couple of games. Then it stopped. Forever.
Anyone recall how long it lasted for?
Question: When Emery (remember him) joined, the players closed down as a pack for a couple of games. Then it stopped. Forever.
Anyone recall how long it lasted for?
Think it was gone as soon as Torreiras form disappeared and he was forced to play a more advanced role to try and recover the ball up the pitch, leaving Xhaka unprotected.
Got to remember that the performances weren't really all that great aside from a few games here and there. There was a lot of luck involved and chance creation and later shots allowed became huge problems.
Its Arteta’s protection against the counter loving itWe never had a structured attack under Emery as such you cant counter press if everyone is all over the place . Incredible how the shots against has suddenly dramatically reduced.