The main tactical challenge for managers in the modern game is building a team that is well trained and organized, yet flexible and unpredictable. On the ball, ideally, you use the full width and depth of the field to stretch out the opposition. Without it, you want the pressure on the ball and the gaps between your players to be minimal, essentially making the field as small as possible.
Arsenal currently seem capable of all of the above.
In the opening weeks of the season, the addition of Oleksandr Zinchenko saw the ball gravitate to the left. Ukraine midfielder Zinchenko wants the ball and wants to dictate the game. He got inside the pitch, Gabriel Martinelli kept the width out of him and Granit Xhaka vacated the midfield base, playing higher than Arsenal fans had ever seen him before to give Zinchenko room to operate.
The concern then, because we always need to have one, was that the right was not complying. That our game was perhaps too focused on the left.
Fast forward a few weeks and things have balanced out. Zinchenko has, of course, missed a few games in the meantime, with Arsenal leaning to the right again. But that does not mean that the left has become ineffective. Arsenal is considered, each player knowing his role according to where the others are. That has never been more obvious than it was against Brentford on Sunday, when the usual plan was adapted a bit.
With the opposition playing in a tight 5-3-2 formation, there was no need for left-back Kieran Tierney to get inside and obstruct an already congested midfield. The space was outside, so Arsenal played there. Tierney may not be the same player as Zinchenko, but he has interpreted the position similarly this season. But at Brentford, the frame change came higher up the pitch and primarily as a defensive tactic, guarding against any potential counter-attack, rather than a method of building up attacks. In Arsenal’s own half, Tierney stayed wider than in previous games (as did Ben White on the other flank). He had more touches up the middle, but he’s there to avoid counterattacks when the ball is on the opposite wing more than he’s there to do anything in possession.
And that was just a cog in a whirring, synchronized machine. With Tierney wider, Gabriel Martinelli slid into the pitch more than he had previously this season, covering the spaces left by Gabriel Jesus when he dropped out of the Brentford backline (happy to bring a centre-back with him to create space for a runner, or happy to skid without surveillance and receive the ball in space) or gaps that Xhaka did not fill, that did not hit the area as we have become accustomed to seeing. The Swiss had 67 touches, more than his season average, but just one in the area, compared to the four (Leicester, Fulham, Villa) or five (Bournemouth, Man Utd) to which he has accustomed us. And that one on Sunday came in the first two minutes of the game.
As all those positions rotated, gaps opened up on Brentford’s right. With the central three busy and Arsenal leaning to the right side, even a compact defense of five stretches. In the first two minutes, Granit Xhaka made his way between the right-back (occupied by Tierney) and the right-back (draught by Martinelli) to receive possession and almost put himself in the first goal.
When that gap appeared 25 minutes later, it was quickly followed by a goal, with Brentford taking care to fill it with a midfielder and Xhaka using the extra space outside the box to set up Gabriel Jesus.
A long passing move included Fabio Vieira in possession on the touchline, rotating with Bukayo Saka to create space and stretch Brentford before Ben White came into the overlap and Vieira found a chance to cut inside and change the game, with Xhaka in space and Tierney pinning the wingback to the flank.
As the ball passed down the left, midfielder Josh Dasilva looked to plug the gap that Xhaka had previously exploited, so the Swiss stayed in space, where Tierney found him. Martinelli dropped from the box onto the left shoulder of Vitaly Janelt (the midfielder preparing to close Xhaka) forcing him to take a small step to the left, giving Xhaka an extra second to select Gabriel Jesus.
It seems too small to make a difference, but Xhaka’s cross angle doesn’t exist without Martinelli’s positioning dragging Janelt down a step. The ball would have just hit him.
I haven’t seen many mention that Jesus’ goal against Brentford had strong Haaland vibes.
A blunt shot from Arsenal’s 9 seemingly out of nowhere.pic.twitter.com/51pWLciezp
— JustAnArsenalFan (@ArsenalDiaspora) September 19, 2022
The contrast could not be greater than that awful autumn two years ago, when Arsenal were incredibly static. It was always clear where each player would be and the team was easy to defend. Now the variety of moves and rotations makes it difficult for opposition players to know who to pick or whose job it is to cover a particular player. Arsenal is difficult to defend.
As Gabriel Jesus falls, the runners move past him. If the left back moves forward, Xhaka sits deeper. When the left-back steps in, Xhaka pushes more or more forward, depending on whether Martinelli is keeping the width or has drifted to the inside of the box. And all that to the right too.
The field is becoming big in attack but small in defense. Seconds after overlapping Vieira in the build-up to the goal, Ben White re-enters with the ball on the left flank. A sloppy touch or blocked cross shouldn’t lead to a dangerous break, as Arsenal completely smothers the two Brentford strikers when the ball drops to them. This is how the pressure is endured and it is done without leaving gaps waiting to be sanctioned.
Stretch the opposition on offense, smother them on defense. The Arsenal accordion has us top of the league.
