It
was one of those days to be honest, and it began the minute I caught wind of
Arsenal's XI against champions Manchester City. "No, no, no!",
heck, I even scared the cat and likely annoyed the neighbors. While I am
critical (in informed and intelligent ways), I will never slag off Arsene
Wenger to the point of hatred, but it must be said, that our formation and
tactical deployment on the day cost us the maximum point haul in our lunch time
special at the Emirates.
To be honest, it's been our issue in
every match this season in the domestic campaign thus far, fielding the same
formation in all four Premier League fixtures. It's been questionable at
best, and it's seen us struggle to get the right results; it does not help that
many players are not being utilized to the best of their ability.
I am not sure where I should begin,
but let's just go from top to bottom shall we? The purchasing of Danny
Welbeck on deadline day was met with bi-partisan reactions; either you loved
it, or you hated it. At first I was incredibly skeptical, but the more I
considered the tactical implications, the more I realized that his acquisition
made perfect sense...for a side that wants to play quick and incisive
counter-attacking football. The problem here, is that Arsenal have not
used that system since roughly 2008, with Wenger's preference being build-up
play and keeping possession - there in lies the problem with the 4-1-4-1.
If you look at the line up in the
link above (don't we all love visuals?), you'll notice that Welbeck was
incredibly isolated. Unlike in a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-3-3 where the striker can
receive the ball and have two or three options, the system we have used thus far
this season is made to send the striker forward with a through ball or a ball
over the top, not long spells of possession in the final third. Despite
Welbeck getting an excellent chance to put us up early when his chipped effort
struck the post, the England international was largely isolated all match long,
having to do his best impression of Olivier Giroud and look to come deeper if
he was to see the ball. When you have a player of Welbeck's pace and
power, it's never a positive thing to see when he cannot use those attributes
to stretch the oppositions back line.
As for the flat-four midfield
itself, the middle three of Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere (who was arguably the
man of the match) and Mathieu Flamini were effective in some areas, but lacking
in others. Before City scored through Sergio Aguero, the aforementioned
central trio did a wonderful job of always pressing for the ball to win back
possession - it was beautiful to watch. But once City found the back of
the net through tee diminutive Argentine hit man, our achilles heel of having a
worrying lack of steel, grit and physicality in midfield reared it's ugly head
yet again.
For all of the work that Wilshere, Ramsey and Flamini put in, the physical side of the game brought forth by City central pairing James Milner and Fernandinho caused us problems as per usual. We did do well to adjust, but it required Alexis Sanchez to channel his inner Energizer Bunny to aid his team mates in central areas much of the time to great effect. Whether it was helping to win the ball or surging forward to create chances, Sanchez was key to drawing defenders away from Ramsey and Wilshere for them to find their footing in the second half - Wilshere would respond with a brilliant equalizer, after Sanchez had won the ball back in City's half. Between Jack and Alexis, we had two all-action performances that should have earned us three points, but in the end it would be three draws on the bounce.
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| While his work rate is arguably the best available, should winger Alexis Sanchez be made to work that hard? (image courtesy of Arsenal's official Facebook page) |
For all of the work that Wilshere, Ramsey and Flamini put in, the physical side of the game brought forth by City central pairing James Milner and Fernandinho caused us problems as per usual. We did do well to adjust, but it required Alexis Sanchez to channel his inner Energizer Bunny to aid his team mates in central areas much of the time to great effect. Whether it was helping to win the ball or surging forward to create chances, Sanchez was key to drawing defenders away from Ramsey and Wilshere for them to find their footing in the second half - Wilshere would respond with a brilliant equalizer, after Sanchez had won the ball back in City's half. Between Jack and Alexis, we had two all-action performances that should have earned us three points, but in the end it would be three draws on the bounce.
Key problem area's of the 4-1-4-1
that were exposed by City
• The left flank
• The link between the back four and midfield
• Per Mertesacker
If it is one thing that drives me
absolutely insane, it is when a player of immeasurable talent is put in a
position where he is rendered ineffective to the point that he becomes useless
- in this case, it's Mesut Ozil. Arguably one of the best true number
10's in the world, Ozil has featured as a left midfielder in one too many
matches this season. His comfort zone is in the middle, behind the
striker, and able to receive the ball and pull the strings in the final third.
Isolated on the left, lacking pace and a winger’s work ethic, Ozil can do
little there to win over his many critics. More over, given his lack of
work ethic, lack of pace and unfamiliar knowledge of responsibilities of the
position, this left the defensively irresponsible Nacho Monreal at the mercy of
the pace and direct style of Jesus Navas, who skinned him more than a few times
over the course of the match, including finding too much space behind the
Spanish left-back which lead to the first goal. This was a match for Alex
Oxlade-Chamberlain (who seemingly just cannot get a game these days), where his
power, pace and willingness to track back and held on defense would have been a
welcomed site.
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| Recent performances from both Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Flamini have proven that neither is capable of commanding the midfield in the holding role we so desperately have been missing (image courtesy of Arsenal's official Facebook page) |
As for Mathieu Flamini being
preferred at defensive midfield on the day rather than captain Mikel Arteta,
all it did was prove that neither of them are the answer for what is our
biggest weakness. With plenty of rumors circulating that we had a chance
to sign Sporting Lisbon and Portugal international holding midfielder William
Carvalho, we're all left with the unfortunate situation of having to hold our
breath and hope that we are not found out in midfield all season long. While
Flamini and Arteta work hard, neither of them are good enough in possession,
intelligent enough on the ball or physical enough to impose their will on the
midfield battle that often defines Premier League matches. This has been
our weakness since Gilberto Silva left the club, and unless it's sorted in the
January transfer window, it could cost us a real chance at the title yet again.
In the case of yesterday's performance, the presence of a capable holding
midfielder is to guard against teams that intent to hit you on the counter -
the evidence put forth by Flamini suggests that he is not capable of performing
in such a role, and by evidence in past matches, neither is Arteta.
Finally, in regards to BFG, he's
really become quite a liability. When your side play a possession based
tactical system, it lends to you having to deploy your back line further up the
pitch so that you can squeeze the opposition in their on half of the park.
While this works, everyone knows that Mertesacker is slower than molasses
in winter, and thus, routinely targeted. When you have Monreal on his
left (who is no speed demon either), you're in trouble against a side like City
who have bags of pace in key areas. Something has to give, and if Wenger
is insistent on keeping the high line at the back, then it has to be realized
that Mertesacker's place must be taken over by young Calum Chambers - for
further evidence of this, you only have to look back to Germany's run in the WC
this summer, when manager Joachim Low axed the towering Teutonic defender from
his XI, for the same reasons that we should consider doing the same. In
Chambers, you have a gifted young defender, who is excellent in the tackle, has
good positional awareness, a physical side to his game, but most of all, he has
far more pace than his German teammate. While we all love him, surely
what's best for the club will come first.
Where do Arsenal go from here
tactically?
One certainly does have to wonder if
Wenger intends on keeping the 4-1-4-1 or, when everyone is fit, if he will
revert back to the far more effective 4-2-3-1. While I cannot read minds,
what I can say with some experience behind it, is that the latter of those two
options not only fit out tactical system (build-up play and possession), but
they suit our players as well.
While it is no secret that we have a
ton of attacking options at the club these days, the key to our success must
remain how to best utilize them. With the return of Theo Walcott to full
fitness, Arsenal are blessed with no less than five players who have
afterburners for legs; this must be the key to our tactical success.
With Welbeck now leading the line,
Sanchez and Walcott could take up residence on both flanks and on either side
of Ozil, who would then be in his preferred position and surrounded by players
who all want to get forward and get into the box with pace. Behind Ozil,
you have two box-to-box midfielders in Ramsey and Wilshere, but if you did need
a player who is going to sit deeper behind the attack, then you could opt to
bring in Flamini or Arteta if necessary. And as for the defense, with
Mathieu Debuchy now out for two months, rather than using Chambers at right-back
to replace him, give a run of matches to Hector Bellerin to replace the French
international so that Chambers can slot in for Mertesacker as discussed
earlier.
Moving Forward
Many may be frustrated that we are
1-3-0 after our first four league fixtures - I am certainly one of those
people, but there is not a cause for concern just yet. While we were poor
against Everton and Leicester, we should have beaten City. We are not yet
blessed with a fully fit squad and we still have players adjusting to life at a
new club and what is expected of him; truthfully, there is still cause to feel
positive.
