Here’s the second part of that post.
- Game management:
After some freak results in the 2013/2014 season (3-6, 1-5, 0-6, 0-3) it was pretty evident that we needed a change of tact if we were to avoid similar results last season. In fact, we generally showed a distinct naivety in our approach to “big” games even before 2013/2014, which of course led to Patrice Evra famously commenting that it was “men against boys” whenever we played Manchester United. So what changed this past year? With the exception of the 2-1 reverse against United at the Emirates, we tightened up and adopted a defensive discipline that was previously not associated with Arsenal, certainly not under Arsene Wenger. We watched some proper “1-0 to the Arsenal” stuff, but we need to clear two issues up here. First, not every close win could be attributed to defensive discipline and shrewd game management. The late wins over Crystal Palace at the Emirates, and away at Anderlecht for instance featured particularly tepid Gunners’ performances. We did just enough to win those games, and only just. Winning ugly is the hallmark of champions, isn’t that how the cliché goes?
Secondly, game management does not simply refer to defensive shape. It points towards discipline and a blend between the potency of attack and the application of tactics and logic. Rather than trying to win it “the Arsenal way”, we simply did what we had to do to win without exposing ourselves to the opponents’ arsenal. Most pundits give the excellent 2-0 win over Manchester City as an example to prove this point, but wins over Newcastle, Burnley and Manchester United in the FA Cup were just as similar. Even the 2-0 win over Borussia Dortmund, where the possession was pretty even (52%-48%), is still comparable with the 2-0 win over City (62%-38%) if based on this parameter alone. We managed to nullify the opposition threat, winning more aerial duels and posing a significant threat going forward while at it too. Controlled in possession, disciplined without.
2. Reconfigured Arsenal midfield:
Now of course there is an element of luck to this particular point, seeing as Francis Coquelin was recalled from his loan at Charlton Athletic amid a defensive injury crisis at the Emirates. We were without Laurent Koscielny, Nacho Monreal, Mikel Arteta, Aaron Ramsey, Abou Diaby and Jack Wilshere at the time. The club was thus forced to bring back Coquelin on the 12th of December, 2014, and he made three substitute appearances for a combined total of 13 minutes before his first start against West Ham on 28th December. Perhaps Coquelin was initially no more than a stop-gap measure, but he ended the season as the club’s second best player of the season despite missing virtually half of it. We won more games, conceded the fewest goals and got the highest points tally of any team since Francis Coquelin made his first start since his return. In the 20 league games since 28th December, we won 14 games (two more than Chelsea), conceded just 14 goals (five less than Chelsea), while scoring 39 goals (second only to City) and accumulating 45 points (three more than Chelsea). So Arsenal worked better as a functional unit with Coquelin in the team.
But this is not just about Coquelin. The manager had to find a way to fit Coquelin in the system, and so he did by asking Santi Cazorla to sit in deeper alongside Coquelin. So good was Cazorla in this withdrawn role that Aaron Ramsey had to make do with a role wide right when he made his return from injury. His re-discovery of the role of the deep-lying playmaker was particularly fascinating and enjoyable to watch as he destroyed teams from deep, finishing the season with seven goals and 13 assists.
3. Alexis Sanchez as a no. 10?
Does anyone else remember a little period in November-December 2014 when Alexis was deployed behind the main striker, whether it was Danny Welbeck or Olivier Giroud? Well, according to statistics from whoscored.com, Sanchez made four appearances as a no. 10, scoring six goals. It’s also over this period that Sanchez received his highest whoscored.com rating of 8.91, scoring braces against Sunderland and Burnley and single strikes against Anderlecht and Swansea.
Most of Sanchez’ work in these matches came deeper in the middle third, dovetailing with Cazorla who featured primarily on the left over this period. This also meant he was heavily involved in possession for the Gunners. Take the game against Sunderland for instance, where he had 96 touches of the ball, had five attempts on goal and three on target, as well as making six tackles. He led all players in these categories, and was 2nd on the number of passes attempted (70) with an accuracy of 84.3%. Against Burnley, he scored twice, had seven attempts on goal and five on target, meaning he was the central figure in all that we mustered going forward. He also had 85 touches, the second-highest of all players. If anyone watched the Copa America final, Sanchez had a somewhat similar role when Chile faced Argentina in this game, sparking off a lot of attacks for Chile before making late runs into the box to get into a scoring position. This is perhaps what Mesut Ozil doesn’t do enough of? But that’s a discussion for another day.
As a purist, however, I did find one issue with Alexis figuring in this position. This can be best illustrated by his passing accuracy over these four matches. Against Sunderland it was 84.3%, but nowhere near as high in the three games since- 70.6% against Burnley, 72.6% against Anderlecht and 70.7% against Swansea. Retaining possession may not be everything, but I do find that my heart beats more calmly whenever we have the ball.
OF INTEREST THIS WEEK:
German international and hash tag King #Lukas #Podolski # #PrincePoldi has sealed his move to Turkish giants Galatasaray in a €2.5 million deal. The Gunners will, interestingly, also receive €500,000 every season that Galatasaray qualify for the UEFA Champions League, for the next three seasons. Podolski will be earning €3 million annually at his new club, and Galatasaray do retain the option of extending his contract for one more year as per the permutations of the deal. The move will really come as no surprise to Arsenal fans as the acquisitions of Danny Welbeck and Alexis Sanchez last summer relegated the German to the role of a bit-part player really. Podolski made just two starts (against Southampton in the Capital One Cup and away to Galatasaray in the Champions League) and 11 appearances off the bench over the past season, scoring thrice. He then moved to Inter Milan for the remainder of last season, where he managed just one goal and one assist to show for his efforts. I’m just glad that Arsene Wenger was real enough with him and agree on a move that was beneficial to all parties involved, not least for Podolski himself. And so, after a creditable 31 goals in 82 appearances in red and white, thank you for the memories and Godspeed Lukas. You swung your sledgehammer of a left foot against Montpellier, Bayern Munich and Galatasaray, and I shall never forget.
A rather more sentimental exit this past week saw the 10-year relationship between Abou Diaby and Arsenal come to an unfortunate end. While his undoubted abilities had seen him hailed as the club’s next Patrick Vieira and led to former France national team manager refer to him as the best midfielder France had in 2008, his 10 years at the club yielded only 180 appearances and just two appearances over the last two seasons. His atrocious injury record curtailed, for all we know, what might have been the moulding of the next Arsenal midfield great, and I can only imagine how devastating it must have been for the Frenchman. Here’s to better times ahead. Finally, David Ospina has been in the press recently talking about his desire to see out his contract with the club.
“Next season we’ll work next to an excellent keeper in Cech, who is recognized and admired, and I’d be honoured to share with him, he’s a player with great experience.”
Earlier last month Wojciech Szczesny was also in the media talking up the prospects of learning his trade as understudy to Petr Cech, and of course this poses a problem for the manager as we have to let either the Colombian or the Pole move on. Current reports point towards a move to either Fenerbahce or Everton for Ospina, and while Ospina seems ready to stay and fight it out for his position at Arsenal, he doesn’t seem to be totally averse to a move to Merseyside either.
“There are some possibilities of working on other teams, and I always look and analyze things…Everton are a competitive team, and showed good things in the league last season. It’s a club to consider and a great opportunity.”
Definitely a situation to keep an eye on. Till next week folks.
Another great piece. A clear and concise analysis. I'd have liked to see Diaby play more. He was a great midfielder
ReplyDeleteThank you as always Ambrose.
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