Christmas day’s third helpings proved to be too much for an Arsenal side who appeared all too happy to sit on the traditional ‘One nil to The Arsenal’ scoreline. Wolves’ players, meanwhile, obviously laid out their milk and cookies for Santa – riding their luck to the max. as The Gunners’ rich run of form ground to a sudden halt.
With a busy Christmas period apparently taking its toll on several Arsenal players, Arséne Wenger made three changes to the side that scraped all three points against Aston Villa – including the game-winning goalscorer Yossi Benayoun, who replaced Theo Walcott on the right wing. Johan Djourou returned to the side ahead of Francis Coquelin, while Tomas Rosicky came in for the rested Aaron Ramsey.
First half: Arsenal invite pressure
It has been an all too familiar sight over the past few years, but once again Arsenal dropped points at home to a significantly lesser side on paper, and in the same fashion we always seem to. Credit must go to a disciplined Wolves side and a key tactical change from Mick McCarthy (more on that later), as well as what Kenny Dalglish would have described as an “inspired” goalkeeper. In reality, however, Arsenal really should have had enough quality to beat a Wolves side lingering at the bottom of the table.
Even though Arsenal dominated the game, they couldn't penetrate a fired up Wolves side
Over the past year or two, Arséne Wenger has taken steps to try and combat the threat of complacency in these sorts of games – instructing his team to go all-out for an early goal in the first 10-15 minutes. While this has worked to an extent (Van Persie scored after 29 seconds in the win against Sunderland, for example), a new problem has arisen.
Whether the players are too physically exhausted to continue an attacking approach for the rest of the half (a ridiculous excuse for professional athletes) or they simply don’t know what to do with the ball thenceforth is unclear. What is clear is that an early goal seems to give way to too much of a relaxed attitude. While it’s important the players don’t feel under pressure the whole game, it’s equally important that they are aware of any potential threats and that a 1-0 lead after 10 minutes is hardly concrete.
As against Sunderland (where 50% of Arsenal’s passes in the first 45 minutes were made in their own half2), Arsenal’s players were far too relaxed after Gervinho’s opener. This time, 56% of passes in the first 45 minutes came inside Arsenal’s half2, and there was no Robin van Persie wonder-goal to snatch all three points for the Gunners.
When Arsenal finally woke up in the second half, it was too late. Wolves had already scored their hugely fortuitous equaliser (which is exactly the kind of thing players need to be aware of) and Wayne Hennessey had no intention of letting the ball go past him again – despite the best efforts of Aaron Ramsey, Per Mertesacker and Robin van Persie.
Wolves tactics: From 4-5-1 to 4-4-2
As expected, Mick McCarthy set his side up in a defensive 4-5-1 formation, with a largely flat midfield instructed to press as a unit and force Arsenal back into their own half and with no specific orders to counter-attack (or attack at all for that matter).
While Wolves’ initial tactics worked well for eight minutes, it quickly became evident with Arsenal’s goal that without a holding midfielder, all the home side needed to do was find a player between the defence and midfield. From there, they had enough quality to score – or at least create chances from their favoured central position.
After Arsenal’s goal, McCarthy clearly felt it was too easy for Wojciech Szczesny to play it out from the back, and for Arsenal to control the game and keep possession fairly comfortably at 1-0 – limiting Wolves’ chance to score and get something out of the game.
McCarthy’s reaction was to play with the formation a little; Karl Henry dropped back into a defensive-midfield role, Matt Jarvis moved inside to play alongside Steven Fletcher up-front (although given the freedom to drift out wide when Wolves had the ball) and Stephen Hunt pushed beyond the midfield to play off the two strikers. The result was a 4-4-2 variant, with Nenad Milijas and Anthony Forde taking up two central zones to make a diamond shape in midfield when Wolves weren’t in possession.
With the new formation, Wolves were still able to blockade the middle of the pitch, whilst forcing Arsenal into wide positions, where they never look entirely comfortable. The new pivot with the three forwards also allowed for more pressure on Szczesny and his defence – forcing the Polish ‘keeper to kick long rather than play it out from the back. Wolves looked comfortable defending these, with Szczesny completing only two long balls in open play1.
Second half: Arsenal reaction and ghost of no end product
After half-time, Arsenal reacted to Wolves’ tactics and equaliser in the only way they know how. All-out attack. More specifically, however, The Gunners responded surprisingly well to being forced into wide positions, where they usually struggle.
With Gervinho and Benayoun constantly swapping wings, Wolves’ defenders were left confused over how to deal with the wingers’ different styles. Benayoun on the one hand preferred to cut inside with the ball early and either run with it, or look to play it through to Van Persie (or Gervinho, as with the goal) – completing two dribble attempts and attempting two through-balls in addition to four key passes1.
Gervinho, meanwhile, preferred to take the ball down the line when he received it – before either taking on the full-back or playing ‘one-twos’ to try and get in behind him and get a cross in from the byline. Unfortunately, it was the Ivorian’s lack of end product and indecision in the box (aside from his goal) which let him down in an otherwise encouraging performance.
Arsenal did miss a trick in their wing-play, however. As has been the case in several home matches this season, the main ‘battle’ took place on Arsenal’s right, with the home side focusing 38% of their attacks down that side and Wolves focusing 32% on the same side1.
Arsenal seemed to struggle to adapt in the absence of Bakary Sagna and Theo Walcott, who usually make Arsenal’s right wing so strong going forward – even Carl Jenkinson was relatively comfortable going forward and taking on players. However, while Benayoun impressed in a right-sided role, Johan Djourou was isolated far too easily and invited pressure on himself by looking nervous whenever he had the ball.
Thomas Vermaelen, on the other hand, has always enjoyed bombing forward to join attacks – giving support to, and in turn receiving support from Gervinho on Arsenal’s left, where Arsenal had 19% of their shots (the other 81% coming from central zones, and none from the right)1.
Conclusion
As I stated at the start, full credit must be given to Wolves and McCarthy for reacting to Arsenal’s early goal, but Arsenal lost the points in the first half by failing to build on their lead. As the game developed, and both sides became to desperate, tactics became less and less clear and important. Wolves inevitably dropped back onto the edge of their own area, and Arsenal – not for want of trying by now – quite simply couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net.
Refereeing decisions and inspired goalkeepers are mere excuses for a performance that was only half as good as it should have been. This should have been an easy win for an Arsenal side high on confidence, but the only real positive to take from it was the performances of Rosicky and Benayoun – two players who have deserved more minutes and took their chance to impress the manager.