Another lively start, and more clues as to how Arsene Wenger has instructed his 2011-2012 squad to play. Udinese packed the midfield tight, and were doing all they could to disrupt Arsenal’s passing game. But then, almost as if they listened to the Sky Sports pundits before kick-off, Arsenal fought fire with fire in the second half and ground out a 1-0 result.
The Italians had a clear instruction from head coach Guidolin – counter, counter and counter. And if that fails – counter. It worked quite well, especially since Arsenal weren’t on their best passing behaviour and made several simple bloopers in that department.
Lack of attacking width, and the near-post approach
Ever since Wenger came to Arsenal towards the end of the 90′s, he’s always had an affection towards inside cutting wingers, or ‘wide forwards’. The theory behind the role is that if the wide forwards cut inside, they will essentially become central forwards, which allows for the actual centre forwards to drop back to become distributors instead of finishers – adding bodies to midfield to ensure the middle is under control.
Without a winger providing width, there are no options on the opposing flank (A) - but with a proper central forward, a winger can offer a second crossing alternative (B)
This behaviour caused plenty of trouble for opposition teams in the first half of Wenger’s Arsenal career, especially with Thierry Henry running around freely on the pitch – it was just impossible to man-mark Arsenal, something many teams tried to do up until 4-5 years ago.
Today, Wenger still insists on inside-cutting wide forwards, and even started putting actual strikers in those positions, when he used to prefer wide, or even central, midfielders out on the flanks.
When these wide forward positions work, they push ahead and run diagonally from their wide positions towards goal, adding bodies to the centre of the box. But the problem is, we rarely serve crosses into the box, so instead we try and short pass the ball with the intention of reaching the centrally positioned forwards.
That is one of the reasons it usually looks as if we’re trying to pass the ball into the net – we have too many players positioned in the middle of the pitch, where it’s more congested.
Yesterday we saw a perfect example of the damage we can cause when the wide forwards work – Ramsey’s low cross towards the near post reached two central forwards bombing towards goal. But Marouane Chamakh wasn’t one of them – Theo Walcott and Gervinho were the most advanced players on the pitch at that stage, both in traditional poacher positions.
But we also saw perfect examples of how our lack of width removes a lot of attacking potency from the team. Several attempted crosses were overpowered, ending up on the far post – where we have no players at all. The whole team is drawn towards the flank of the ball holder, but no one stays wide on the opposite flank to provide a ‘plan B’ in case the ball ends up being overshot or deflected.
Wenger should really take a look at the functionality of the wide forwards, and see if he can’t expand their role to be more flexible. Walcott is perfect in that role, as he alternates between staying wide and cutting inside, but he desperately needs to work on his composure and shot accuracy.
Another solution would be to instruct the central forward to stay wide on the opposing flank if the wide forwards have drifted into central positions. Robin van Persie is definitely intelligent enough to make these decisions, but Chamakh seems like he needs a vacation to get his head straight.
The impulsive nature of Alex Song
Song is a conundrum to me. His position is excellent, he reads the game really well when he’s not on the ball, and his sluggish presence is intimidating to opposition players. He is versatile, understands instructions well, and has excellent teamwork skills.
However, as soon as he gets the ball, he is transformed into a player that dwells around and seems ignorant to his immediate passing options. He really needs to command his nerves and become more assured in his passing decisions. Right now it’s as if he’s scared of making a mistake, waiting for the perfect pass. Which reminds me a lot of Denilson. Which is not a good thing.
He’s also a little short-sighted when defending, never thinking more than one step ahead. He’s impulsive, which makes decisions more chance than plan. On several occasions last night, he made successful tackles and attempted clearances where the ball fell straight back into Udinese’s possession, just because he didn’t think in the line of ‘where are my passing options when I win this tackle?’.
Post-Fabregas midfield setup
In losing Cesc Fabregas, we lost one of the top three central midfielders in the world – he was the top assister in the top 5 leagues in the last five years, ahead of players like Dani Alves, Lionel Messi and Xavi, respectively*. Last year’s 4-2-3-1 tactic was designed around him, a custom role for Fabregas that meant he was allowed to roam around between a secondary forward zone and a central midfielder zone.
The new 1-2 midfield setup is a fluid pivot with plenty of positional swapping
With him gone, Wenger now has to make sure we can dominate the midfield with the same poise and efficiency, and Wenger apparently thinks that the only way to do that is to compromise on the actual midfield setup.
Last year we used a 2-1 shape between Alex Song, Jack Wilshere and Cesc Fabregas, with the former two in a double pivot central midfield, and Fabregas drifting in and out of their zone. When Fabregas was match fit, which was rarely (he only started 61% of all Arsenal games in the last three seasons*), he made an immense contribution – Arsenal won 20% more games with him on the pitch in the last three seasons*.
But this year Wenger has gone for a reverse shape in midfield, often looking like a 1-2, with Song as the lone anchor man, Wilshere and Ramsey expected to pivot ahead of him. The strategy here is to fill the ‘Cesc role’ with two bodies to compensate for the loss of our former captain, but at the same time make Song’s role more solid.
In the 2-1 setup, Song wasn’t the only one expected to take defensive positions, and as it was a two-man job, he was usually found on his right-hand side. But this year, Wenger has given him a central responsibility – he is expected to cover the entire zone between the defensive line and the midfield. An unwanted result of this will be fatigue, and we got a hint of that yesterday.
In the meantime, Wilshere and Ramsey will switch positions and pivot ahead of him, offering support if needed, or going into advanced positions if an opportunity opens up further up the pitch. Wenger has also tried to prevent Song from being exhausted in the later stages of the first two matches of the season, by bringing on Emmanuel Frimpong if we’re protecting a scoreline, transforming the midfield back into last year’s 2-1 shape.
This year’s tactic is very similar to the 4-3-3 we played in 2009-2010, and I have to say I’m a little disappointed. In my opinion, we should have kept going with the 4-2-3-1 and promote Ramsey to the ‘Cesc role’. That formation allowed Wilshere to bloom, won us games against Barcelona, Man Utd, Man City and Chelsea, and would have been the perfect formation for Ramsey’s set of skills.
Wenger clearly doesn’t trust Ramsey to fill Cesc’s boots just yet, so maybe the 4-2-3-1 will be re-installed as Ramsey develops.
The wonderful tenacity of Carl Jenkinson
As soon as the commentators said that Bacary Sagna will move into left back when Carl Jenkinson came on, I was thinking that wouldn’t be the case at all. Jenkinson has claimed on several occasions that he can play on either flank, and to take Sagna out of his position at that stage of the match would be risky. Jenkinson is far more versatile than Sagna when it comes to preferred flank.
What Jenkinson gives this team will be priceless in the near future. He has a frantic persistence about him that makes him a nightmare to play against. He anticipates your moves and gets into your space in a way that will annoy any opposition player. If you dribble, he’s too close to you, hacking at your feet. If you try to knock the ball past him, he keeps up with your pace. If you wait too long for a passing opportunity, you’ll end up on the floor. He’s constantly in your face, making your life miserable.
This behaviour is much better than how Kieran Gibbs, and the recently departured Gael Clichy, operates. They stand off, almost afraid of getting tight, allowing the opposition too much time on the ball to serve a cross into the box.
People talk about Arsenal needing more grit, I say Jenkinson is a perfect example of that type of player. If both Armand Traore and Kieran Gibbs stay injured, Jenkinson could probably fill in at left back against Liverpool on Saturday.
Conclusion
1-0 is a little risky, and our shot accuracy let us down. With 12 shot attempts, our shots on target should be higher than 3, and our end product is still letting us down. Walcott will have to start being more clinical, as he will end up in plenty of goalscoring opportunities this season – and when he does, he must keep his calm and do better than he did yesterday.
However, another clean sheet, another indication that our new corner routine actually works, another good defensive performance from the Vermaelen/Koscielny duo, and a win at the end of the day. These are worrying times, but it seems as though Wenger has finally learned that you don’t need to attack for 90 minutes in order to entertain the supporters. A win will keep us equally entertained.
* Opta stats and numbers from @Orbinho
Second Opinion by Manny Keshwani
A win is a win is a win, and despite only being up 1-0 in the tie, Arsenal will take some positives to Udinese for the second leg. Walcott’s movement was interesting, and he combined well with Sagna – to an extent. Meanwhile, the back line was fortuitous to escape with a clean sheet and remain susceptible to the over-the-top ball, Arsenal’s midfield trio was swamped by a very narrow 5-man Udinese midfield and Gervinho struggled…
A lot of discussion on tactical trends in recent years has focused on the behavior and movement of inside or inverted wingers, and their ability to create space for overlapping backs. Bakary Sagna has, especially during the 2010-11 season, shown a propensity to play as a highly aggressive wing-back in his positional play and thrives when given the chance to get into crossing positions on the byline.
Theo Walcott and Sagna combine
Theo Walcott did a fantastic job in the first half playing the role of an inverted winger yesterday. Few would imagine The Flash to be capable of playing that role and Arsene Wenger has previously used Walcott as more of a wide forward. Top European sides that make use of inside wingers tend to deploy “wrong-footed” players with highly technical ability into that position – Nani, Robben and David Villa included. Nevertheless, Walcott’s direct running at goal in the first half was dangerous and consistent enough to force Udinese to get a narrower and deeper than their original game-plan would have seen them play.
Whilst he plays on the right, Walcott cannot be an inverted winger in the manner of, say, Arjen Robben, who is left-footed and cuts inside in front of the full back and across the edge of the box. Instead, Walcott (and Gervinho, when he plays on the right) will look to play wide at first and then attack the far post when the ball is on the other flank – both can create space for the full-backs by their movement with or without the ball.
Sagna was afforded a lot of space behind Walcott and while he combined very well with the winger on the right flank, he had to be wary of an Udinese midfield that was repeatedly playing on the counter-attack. Armero and Asamoah would go on to make several runs on the counter on Sagna’s flank but Udinese’s passing game was unspectacular and Alex Song did a good job of covering in that space.
Meanwhile, Sagna himself will have been extremely disappointed with his delivery. He had a potentially useful target in Marouane Chamakh challenging in the box and a fair number of his crossing chances came when he was under little to no pressure, but the Frenchman seems to throw himself off-balance whilst pinging the ball into the box.
Team Struggling in Front of Box
Gervinho played his best football at Lille when on the right. And while he has started on the left for the Gunners in pre-season, he had something of a torrid time when moved there yesterday to accommodate Walcott. Kieran Gibbs showed a desire to get forward and support Gervinho but there was just no space – Joel Ekstrand watched the Ivorian more closely than Neuton did for Walcott on the right, forcing Gervinho to pick up the ball closer to the congested midfield.
Cutting in, he was running into a densely packed area — early on in the game, there was space behind Udinese’s high line but by around the half hour mark, Ayegmang and Pinzi were crowding out Gervinho. Brought in by Arsene Wenger supposedly to provide a spark for the team in such situations, Gervinho wasn’t helped by a deep-lying Marouane Chamakh who occupied the same space he was running into. Both players were poor in their passing and neither seemed exceptionally keen to run into the box nor was Aaron Ramsey allowed the space to dictate play and create chances.
Conclusion
From an attacking standpoint, Udinese were not able to consistently threaten the Arsenal back-line. Vermaelen made several key blocks while Armero and Di Natale went very close. Notable, however, is also how easily the Italian side managed to hit balls over the top of Koscielny and Vermaelen for Di Natale. Both defenders displayed precarious positioning for the high balls and were lucky to not be challenged more.
Lastly, Gervinho became a little lax and eased himself into a central position in the second half, thus allowed Ekstrand to storm along the flank unmatched. Hamstring injuries to Gibbs and Djourou meant that Carl Jenkinson was left with an unenviable task of defending under pressure on his European debut.
One simplified conclusion would be that the game stagnated from midfield. Udinese didn’t commit enough men forward and were keen on overloading the center of the pitch; meanwhile Walcott showed promising signs but faded a little as the game wore on. Arsenal will be more than happy to take a lead into the second leg but the performance was far from vintage and there’s still a lot to be done.
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