This win was a statement from this group of players that they are also sick of losing games. It shows that maybe, just maybe, style of play and player assessment are keys to success. We’re starting to see an Arsenal that is combative for every possible advantage on the pitch. I consider situations like having the ball or having more men in particular areas of the pitch as advantageous.
Against Manchester United and Chelsea the players showed an urgency to recover the ball, whether that was by a tackling or pressing the opponent into a turnover. An aggressive style of play that relies on speed and physical ball recovery would make for an appealing Arsenal. That doesn’t mean we’ll lose the possession identity that was forged during the Wenger era. Its possible to aggressively hold the ball.
I also like that Arteta is playing to the strength of his players by putting them in areas of the pitch where they’re most effective. Every player has a preferred side they’re comfortable operating on, whether to cut in or shoot from or open up passing lanes. Ozil is given freedom to move anywhere across the space behind the forwards. He takes that further by coming back to help defend. Who would’ve thought that setting up an employee for success makes them want to operate in additional roles on the job.
Good: I like that we’re taking advantage of our speed on the flanks. The WhoScored positional report has Arsenal attacking 42% of the time on the left and 41% on the right. That’s a pretty equal distribution of time spent moving moving through those areas. Although that doesn’t necessarily mean the ball is always traveling through those sides. Pepe, Aubameyang, Saka, Maitland-Niles and Kolasinac are quick guys. If you think of our attacks as a pincer, our flanks push up to meet up in the opponents defensive box. To do that you need your center players to form a solid box with enough men back to not get overrun on the counter.
Bad: Arsenal allowed 40% of Manchester United’s shots to take place in their 18 yard box. That’s 4/10 of the total shots Manchester United had all game. Arsenal also had 10 total shots all game. I don’t like that because that means the first line of our defensive box were breached for that time when they did get a shot. It’s important to remember that not all defensive breaches lead to a shot of goal. However, it seemed like that’s been to the case for Arsenal the last few months. Going back to the defensive box, the first line of defense is our center midfielders (Xhaka and Torreira). The second line is our center backs (Luis and Sokratis). Last line of defense is the goalkeeper.
Good: It seemed to me that Manchester United’s forwards were hardly in Arsenal’s defensive zone. They were pinned back and pressed into defensive duty. The first half was dominated by Arsenal. However, even as they held on to their lead in the second half, Manchester United didn’t seem to do much with the ball. The stats show they traveled the ball on the flanks with 40% on the left and 34% on the right. The stats also show that their shot direction went through the middle 70% of the time. I like this because it means they were restricted to long shots less shots from angular zones. Looking at the WhoScored heat maps for the forward line of Rashford, Martial and James you hardly see coloring in Arsenal’s defensive zone. The biggest spot of color is on the left flank. Fred and Matic covered more area in the center for them than those mentioned three combined. It makes sense that long shots from center were the choice of attack.
Bad: Arsenal had 13 dribbles to Manchester United’s 19. I think Arsenal should be attempting more dribbles with the pace we have on the right and Kolasinac’s enthusiasm to attack. However, I’ve noticed that when Arsenal do dribble it leads nowhere. The ball tends to be lost or passed back due to lack of passing options. That could be part of the reason why Arsenal had more tackles this game (19 versus 12). They put themselves in situations where the ball has to be recovered again.
I very much enjoyed this game. It almost felt cathartic as the final whistle blew.
From,
Dan
lifesaball 