For all that Jose Mourinho asserts that Arsenal “abandoned their philosophy” in their 1-0 win over Chelsea in the Community Shield, Arsene Wenger might quietly agree. Because in recent seasons, he’s realised the need to add pragmatism to his side’s tactics and, as such, Arsenal are more comfortable at withstanding pressure these days, at holding an opponent at arm’s length, and breaking up play when it needs to be done.
Doing it against Chelsea was one of those necessary moments, the top-level opponents that Arsenal usually falter against. Here, Wenger said the team was forced to defend deeper than they would have liked because the pitch was heavy and they suffered physically. As such, the performance wasn’t probably indicative of what Wenger has been trying to achieve with his defensive strategy this pre-season because he wants it to be more proactive.
The 6-0 Lyon win in the Emirates Cup was probably closer to his ideal as Arsenal pressed higher up the pitch (but not too high), forced turnovers and could play in the opponent’s half more. The third goal, scored by Alex Iwobi displayed that best as the team moved as a unit left, right and then backwards to win the ball back and then attack the goal with speed.
Against Chelsea, Wenger admitted there was a psychological factor at play which resulted in them defending for large periods of the match, as the team was “concerned with protecting our lead rather than playing attacking football.” And he added, “I don’t think that’s giving up your philosophy, it’s a punctual fact that we wanted to win a game like that. I’m quite proud of that.”
Which is true; Mourinho has become king at making the kind of spurious and bitter comments that otherwise don’t deserve the attention they get. Wenger hadn’t compromised his philosophy; if anything, the perception that he’s an overly-romantic coach has been accentuated by the post-Highbury youth project where Wenger made a conscious decision to go down a possession-based route as per the trends of the modern game. In recent season, he’s relaxed that and his tactics are closer to the Invincibles team that won matches in moments rather than being fixated on trying to dominate the whole ninety-minutes.
Tactics, though, aren’t something Wenger talks about with the same openness. Perhaps that’s because he believes the team is close to its potential and now, all that requires is a slight adjustment of mentality, a fine-tuning of commitment within to achieve that. Indeed, the theme that has been running throughout pre-season in Wenger’s interviews has been of “stability” and “resilience” and after the Chelsea win, he was quick to focus on the spirit and the togetherness that helped secure the victory. The signing of Petr Cech furthers brings a winning mentality and what reservations there might be of his perceived lack of athleticism look surely alleviated by the calmness he spreads to those in front of him.
In any case, with Arsenal defending ever-so-slightly deeper, Wenger might feel Cech is sufficiently protected and the difference can be made up in the command he exudes. He showed that in the Community Shield, not forced to scamper much apart from a good stop from an Oscar free-kick but was dominant from crosses. In front of him is a much improved unit with Laurent Koscielny the real leader because of the way he triggers the offside trap, as he did on Sunday on numerous occasions and sweep up danger if it does find its way through. Look out also for his passing this season; Koscielny fancies himself as a ball-playing defender and will look to spread play wide or pass the ball through-the-lines to surprise the opponent.
After opening the scoring, following a fine finish from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain after cutting inside Cesar Azpilicueta, Arsenal held on for much of the game, unable to really find their rhythm. Theo Walcott barely got involved which, as Wenger sort of alluded to after the game, is not to denigrate him – it’s about the service. His role, you might say, is almost a decoy, a distraction, looking to move the defenders this way and that, hoping to get onto the end of balls of course, but in the process, creating space in front for Ozil, Ramsey et al. to play. Wenger admitted that it wasn’t really the ideal scenario for him because Chelsea invariably drop deep but he worked hard for the team (and of course, helped set up the goal).
As a Plan B going forward it’s a good option, although the players looked almost relieved when Olivier Giroud came on. Giroud’s grip on this team is like a habit; he’s a release when things need to get a little ugly, an out-ball when the opponents make it hard to find a rhythm. When the Frenchman entered the occasion, crosses were more frequent while Ramsey was able to get forward more in support. His grip on the team doesn’t look likely to slip though there’s more likely to be rotation this season.
In the cup final last season, there were moments in the match – before Arsenal made the breakthrough – when, unable to find a way through the midfield, the centre-backs aimed the ball long hoping that Giroud was at the end of it rather than the pint-sized target of Walcott. When Arsenal finally got it out of their system that Walcott offers other strengths, their approach play was unstoppable (though when the goal came, it began with a goal-kick long to Alexis in the central position. In any case, it’s as Walcott says, the front three can swap positions).
If Walcott for Giroud was a slight selection surprise, perhaps more unexpected was the decision to deploy Santi Cazorla on the left flank instead of Aaron Ramsey. Certainly, it indicates central midfield is for Ramsey to keep this season, which might be a bit unfair on Cazorla who I feel can go up another level yet. I watched Spain’s last match in the Euro Qualifiers with Belarus and he took the playmaking mantle and was superb at spreading play wide, especially towards the full-backs. On the left-side against Chelsea, he couldn’t quite influence with his passing though his combination play with Ozil at the beginning was at times good.
Also, he’s probably not as suited to shuttling up and down the field as he can in central midfield where he can be more economic with his running. A big feature in pre-season has been the recovery pace of the wide midfielders which might have suited Ramsey more there and whilst Cazorla struggled at times to make the distance, Oxlade-Chamberlain was perhaps more lax of the two wingers on the day.
In any case, Ramsey probably secured his place in the middle due to his understanding with Ozil, whilst his powerful running is such a key weapon from the centre. Ramsey’s playmaking also is an underrated part of his game, which sometimes we neglect to praise because he does all things well. Nevertheless, Cazorla and Ramsey will probably rotate though it will be interesting to see if Wenger goes with the option to play both of them together thereby placing trust in the team’s shape to offer defensive security. That would mean Cazorla in the deep-lying playmaker role, something which Wenger tried at the back end of last season – though mostly as a gung-ho option (Monaco away 2nd half, Sunderland home). I can see it costing Arsenal points if used from the start – teams are savvier now and use the counter-attack so well. It will need time and practice to work and as such, best saved until the 2nd part of the season.
But to return to Arsenal’s focus on shape. It formed the basis of their win over Chelsea and Wenger hopes defence can provide the platform for the team to express themselves as the season wears on. Broadly speaking, it’s a 4-4-2 shape with Ozil supporting Giroud/Walcott as the second striker. Arsenal dropped deeper than they would have liked at Wembley so as such, the Lyon win is a better case study of what Wenger wants from his side.
That is to be proactive when the opponent has the ball at the back but firstly, the job is to get into shape. There are different phases of intensity, depending on where the ball is – Arsenal might press most aggressively when the ball is halfway in their own half since that’s when they have everybody in perfect position to win the ball back most effectively. It’s sort of a zonal-man-marking system where the team moves left and right, and backwards and forwards as a unit but when the ball enters a respective player’s zone, they look to aggressively man-mark that player. Certain players might have more freedom on how aggressively they close down an opponent such as Ramsey or Mertesacker who tend to push out, and sometimes abandon the shape in an attempt to win the ball back quickly – see video below.
An example of Arsenal's defensive shape, pressing v Lyon (Emirates Cup) pic.twitter.com/2neUxbvavb
— Arsenal Column (@ArsenalColumn) August 3, 2015
Jack Wilshere talks about the 5-second rule – when possession is turned over, the team tries to win it back as quickly as possible – but that’s something I think which we’re more likely to see in matches against weaker teams. For Wenger, the primary focus is on shape.
He says: “As a unit we defend quicker and better, which is something we want to continue. I feel that the team are now convinced and have belief in their strengths. They are convinced that if we play the way we want to play well, we have a good chance of fighting for the Premier League.”
