Arsenal Tactics

As I say that...

Arsène Wenger believes Jack Wilshere can use his spell on the left flank to rediscover his best form.

The England international has moved position to accommodate Mesut Ozil in the centre of Arsenal's midfield, and Wenger is happy with how Wilshere has adjusted.

The Arsenal manager no longer sees Wilshere as a natural 'No 10' - despite his shirt number - and thinks his new role can help the 21-year-old rediscover his trademark "burst".

"He is getting it back and I think playing on the flanks helps him to find that back, because on the flanks you have to do a lot of that," said Wenger. "Once he will have that back… his performances physically recently are like that.

"Deep-lying midfielder or wide [are his best positions] because higher up he is less comfortable at the moment. He doesn’t like to have his back to goal, he likes to face the game.

"Why? Because he has a burst to pass people with the ball at his feet. From deep he does that very well, he creates the openings for that little burst to run with the ball. He is a physically strong boy, he has a good body. He can win the challenge and make the difference and open the game up."

Wenger cited Aaron Ramsey as an example of a player who can still thrive despite being stationed on the flank, and he thinks Wilshere's natural versatility will help him thrive.

"You ask every good football player and he says to you [he wants to play] ‘in the centre’," said Wenger. "Nobody says I want to play wide, I’ve never heard that.

"But on the other hand I had Nasri, he and Silva they all play wide. It’s not like they are forced to stay out there. Ramsey the other night, he played on the right side and had an outstanding game. Because he is not pinned there, he can move.

"Jack can play basically everywhere. He is an important player for the squad, and he will play. But there is competition for places of course. On one side, people want you to have good players, on the other, that means you cannot give any guarantee to anybody."

http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/wenger-wide-role-can-help-wilshere

I agree with him.... i had similar thoughts when he first used him there this season.

He's struggling to impact games from the middle, but if he's coming from wide positions he's not going to be picked up as easily and thus at least until he finds his pre injury form it could suit him.

His best trait to me is his dribbling ability and quite frankly coming off the flank you can exploit this more than you can in the middle as any mistake you make in the middle can quickly mean your back 4 are under pressure.

That was the reason why i said he shouldn't play CM, far too often he makes a run and leaves the midfield so to speak empty... if he fails with one of dribbles from a CM position the opposition could quite easily get in between the midfield and the back 4 very quickly.

Playing in what was Cazorla's role he can freely use his best traits and not worry about his defensive responsibility as much.... it still matters as he will have to track runners which i'm sure he will.

But making driving risky runs into the final third from LW is less risky for the entire team even if he loses the ball you have 3 players who can cover him before it gets dangerous.

Ozil can easily slot in as a wide forward a la Cazorla if he has to. Long term future for Wilshere I see him as an AM, but I guess that could work if he played on the wing at least for the time being.

But where would that leave Cazorla? I mean say everyone is fit and on form, who makes the starting XI week in week out in that midfield?

If everyone was fit and on form, then the midfield four would be Ramsey, Wilshere, Özil and Cazorla, simply because their talents surpass the talents of Flamini, Arteta and Rosicky. Though there's a chance of imbalance, Wenger does consider Ramsey as someone who can play as a "defensive" midfielder and would likely rely on him and his understanding with Wilshere to anchor that quadrant.

It is tempting to go with a five man midfield of Arteta, Ramsey, Wilshere, Özil and Cazorla but I believe Walcott to be too important to leave out the side on a consistent basis.

with a few games seeing Flamini, many said that Arteta will only be a backup option from now on.. but when he started again along with Flamini in the current team.. see what happened ? it produced our best match of the season..
so atm, i would love to see Arteta-Flamini double pivot, especially against stronger sides..
the options for Wilshere in the current team atm based on his form is as
LW - 2nd/3rd choice behind Cazorla and probably Podolski
CAM - 3rd behind Ozil and Cazorla
CM - 4th behind Arteta, Flamini and Ramsey
so he will have to be a patient, play as a squad player for sometime and build up his fitness and form..
with Ox, Walcott, Poldi, Cazorla coming back.. also Diaby (!).. youngsters like Gnabry, Ryo.. the midfield looks packed with talent and depth.. so no more midfield signings...

Is it just me or is Arsenals problem when it comes to tactics simply that all your best players are at their best centrally? Ozil, Poldi, Wilshere, Arteta, Ramsey, Cazorla, Rosicky, and of course Giroud are all best centrally.

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:
That was the reason why i said he shouldn't play CM.

wenger - "He has a burst to pass people with the ball at his feet. From deep he does that very well, he creates the openings"

Im petty sure wenger sees it as a reason he should play CM, not a reason he shouldn't.

It is more clear with every match that he is basically an Iniesta. Playmaking from the wide, exceptional dribbling, creating space.

His best performances did come from midfield but he had players who made it easier for him in Cesc.

Maybe he can work with Flamini and Ozil in midfield but Ramsey is 2nd name on the team sheet atm so Wilshere will have to do his magic from the left

Then where does that leave Cazorla (assuming when he's fit)?

Playing all midfielders in one game  

Now that we have Flamini, and if Wenger decides to play Arteta alongside him, I would like to see Arteta go forward a little bit more to influence our offensive play.

I remember in his Everton days he was crucial to them. He scored a lot. And I know at times he played CAM, but other times when he played deeper he also bagged a few goals. I know he has it in his locker and I know he can also produce stunning through balls and defense-splitting passes.

For the moment he just ain't doing that and I'll be using today's match against WBA as an example. In the last 10 min when both sides were pushing for a winner it was Flamini who popped up in attacking areas near the 18-yard box. And let's be honest Flamini ain't the best finisher, so it was not surprising when he fluffed a few shots. But what if that was Arteta. I mean we all know what he can do (City at the Emirates... Hello) but as I said instead it was Flamini who was popping up in these areas where a goal or a goal-creating pass can be made.

yes.. for some strange reasons Arteta stayed back and Flamini was asked to go more forward.. it should have been the other way..
hope Arteta will improve his fitness and sharpness with 2 weeks rest.. Flamini just needs to stay back and defend like he did when he played alone in the first matches.. and Arteta needs to now play more offensively when they play together..

Good article by Michael Cox on our defending:

http://www.arsenal.com/news/features/case-for-the-defence

BUMP!

AW post match :
“Since Cazorla has started playing centrally – he played wide a lot and now he’s at a level of his career where he can have more influence centrally – he’s been fantastic because he gets you out of pressure in very tight situations. He finds openings that are very interesting. He is a good example for young players, he shows you how important it is to be two footed in the middle of the park – it’s a vital quality for a midfielder today – and he does that very well. He loves the game.”

Assuming we continue this 4-1-4-1 and find some joy with it, and having Coquelin/ nailing that deepest role, it is 2 midfield roles up for grabs between Santi, Özil, Ramsey and Wilshere. Rosicky and Ox, if you insist on a complete list.

Each of them have their own strengths and weaknesses. We have enough competition for the front 3 as things stand, with Theo, Ox, Campbell, Welbeck, Giroud and Alexis. So it is also difficult to shuttle Özil out wide (I hope we don't do that shit again).

How'd you manage that?

Relevant to Sri's post - http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2015/jan/19/arsenal-mesut-ozil-midfield-alexis-sanchez-cazorla

Gonna be boring and say "if it's not broke, don't fix it".

Really, it should depend on the type of game. Our counter attack is better with more pacey players, but against a parked bus we might need more creativity so we can play an extra playmaker. In games that we have defend for long periods, you need more grafters. No to mention that with so many good options in midfield and up front, we should be looking to rotate as well.

The only formation that could possibly get Ozil and Cazorla in the same team without shunting one out wide is a 4-3-1-2 or a diamond. Otherwise, Ozil could play RW in our usual 4-3-3. That's probably the second best solution. That or false nine, but Alexis would be much more suitable for that.

For now, Ozil needs to be eased back into first team action, as does Walcott. By the time they're fully fit again, something may have changed (eg an injury) that would make these tactical problems easier to solve.

It's good to be able to ease them back, and something may well change by the time they are match fit - this is Arsenal, after all. When Wilshere returns, it is only going to make things a tad more complicated.

And while I completely agree with the flexibility and options for rotation that this can provide, Wenger is not really the epitome of man management The City performance, at least till we repeat it again, is an exception rather than a norm.

I quite enjoyed reading that article and it's fair enough to say that Özil is probably the most affected person, especially if we want to persist with the style from yesterday. On current form, Santi and Alexis are undroppable, Giroud's the only one with physical presence up front, Theo has his work cut out to get in ahead of Ox, ... Ramsey has carved a niche for a B2B role with his immense workrate as well.. Makes it hard for Özil to break in, despite the awesome player that he is.. (I don't agree with the article that the second best option is to shoo him into the RW now, though)..

http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20150122/extra-wenger-on-coquelin-and-confidence

on Ozil and Walcott giving options...
People reproach you when you have no competition on the bench. When there is one, they question you as well. It is true there is competition for places at the moment, that is a luxury that only a club like of our stature can afford. It can make the players better, because the competition inside the club is always very important to keep the players on their toes. These are players who are in a bit of a special position, it is not their quality which is questioned, it is just the fact they have just come back from long term injuries.

Geez, This bump is hilarious. At no expense of the poster.

Wenger figuring out after a couple years Cazorla is a CM. I had all out arguments with Premfaces to stop calling Cazorla a Winger he is a CM and a great one at that.

Also, LOL at FINALLY coming to the premise if Cazorla is played centrally he is undroppable from this squad.

I mean we could have spared so many peoples panties being in a bunch had Wenger and Prem / Arsenal fans just listened to me from the beginning.

I mean all anyone had to do was pay some sort of attention to La Liga for more than 5 minutes to realize you have been wasting one of the best central players in Europe for years now.

Errr, Cazorla often played in the #10 in 2012-2013 ... nothing "finally" about it.

He was moved out to the wing last season to make room for Özil, basically.

Dnmac, I like your posts and you're right, I remember you from the start of Cazorla/Arsenal saying (correctly) that he wasn't a "winger." But you're just factually wrong here to say that Wenger has only now realized to play him in the center. Sorry.

+1 Chum.

Cazorla also played wide before we bought Özil on occasions, because he has the ability and AW always picks a skewed line up with a wide midfielder playing on the wing - usually the left wing. It helps keep the ball and control possession better.

“I see him behind the striker or on the flank, where he doesn’t like to play,” Wenger continued.

“I prefer him central. In our team it’s very flexible anyway. When you play on the flank, you can move inside. We usually have one player who is more a winger and another more midfield.

“Ozil is a fantastic football player and he will come back very strongly. We have some players who are completely fresh and rested.

“Every game is important and I have to use players who have not played for nearly four months or, in the case of Theo Walcott, for one year. That’s not easy, I have to use them at the right moment.”

http://news.arseblog.com/2015/01/wenger-ozil-wanted-to-be-stronger/

http://www.arsenal.com/news/features/20150114/the-year-in-football

What tactical innovations have you seen on the pitch over the last 12 months?

What has come back is that many teams play with three centre backs. The counter-attacking system has become much more dominant in the way people approach the game. It is a period of transition. The transitional phases have also become much more important. The transition from defending to attacking has become much quicker in the last two or three years.Tomas Rosicky - leading the transition from attack to defence
Tomas Rosicky - leading the transition from attack to defence

Also, the request for top-level physicality is much more important than it was 10 years ago. The speed of the game has become a train where you need to jump on. Only after that can you express your talent. You have to show that you can move on this train at that speed. If not, you will find it very difficult in top-level games today. It looks like that has kicked out some very good footballers, just because they cannot move with that basic pace that is demanded.


So is it no longer enough to be a great player if you don’t have the physicality to match the technique?

Since we have been able to measure players’ physical performances easier, the selection process on that front has become much stricter. Unfortunately this has kicked out some very creative players who would’ve played 15 years ago because you didn’t really know how much they could run.


Why has football become more fitness-based? Is it a conscious decision by the coaches, or just a consequence of human evolution?

It is a conscious decision. If one player covers one kilometre more than another in midfield, that works out as a total of an extra 14 box-to-box runs. After an hour, if that guy can still go, even if he’s a little bit less strong physically, it has an impact.


And sports science enables managers to be more informed about a player’s physical output...

Yes, it is a decision a manager can make. But let’s not forget that football is first a technical sport, it’s not because someone can run further that makes them a good player. A good pass is sometimes worth more than a box-to-box run. At the end of the day, if we speak about Messi, does he run more than other players? No, but he’s the most efficient. The combination and balance has to be right. The balance of players who can run, players who can deliver a final ball, a good pass and make a difference. Ideally it’s better you have both.Arsène Wenger
Arsène Wenger


Looking forward, do you see football continuing to move away from pure technicality?

Yes, it’s going more that way. We are one of the teams who started measuring fitness early and we’ve seen that in our observations. What we notice is that the average level of fitness is always going up in the Premier League every year.


Overall, which players have improved the most at Arsenal in the last year?

Basically the young players. I believe Oxlade-Chamberlain is a different player today than he was one year ago. Ramsey had an outstanding year of course. It’s a shame that Wilshere got injured because he was just coming back to his real level in the last three months. Gibbs has also moved on a lot. Szczesny and all the other young players have moved up a level too. Then you have some players like Giroud and Koscielny who have taken senior positions in the club.

You can say that nobody stays still at our club. Arteta and Mertesacker are great leaders, Flamini has done his job. It’s difficult to rule anybody out because you cannot be unhappy with any of their performances.

The only disappointment of this group – which has a very good dynamic and unity so that when you watch them play you think something is happening – is that we have to find our defensive stability to really be firing on full cylinders. Therefore we maybe need to have a look in January to get at least one more player in because we have been hit so hard by injuries that we have become too dependent on some players who play every single game. Then the more they play, the more chances they have to be injured.

The signing of Mesut Özil in the summer of 2013 was significant not only for the quality of the player Arsenal had purchased. It was a signing of great political importance too. One can draw a line through Arsenal’s transfer history and plot acquisitions that were intended to signal a new era. To push the club onto a new plateau. Charlie Buchan, Ted Drake, Bryn Jones, Joe Mercer, Peter Marinello, Malcolm McDonald, Charlie Nicholas, Dennis Bergkamp, Sol Campbell.

Varying levels of success were achieved with those signings, but the intention was to advance the level of the whole squad. The signing of the German was meant to signal an escalation in the calibre of player that the club could entice. This policy was continued with the signing of Alexis Sanchez. The fruits of this brave new era of financial muscle are just beginning to bear fruit. This time two years ago, Lukas Podolski and Thomas Vermaelen were bona fide members of Arsenal’s first XI. Both have since been deemed surplus to requirements. In an increasingly Darwinist environment, neither could sufficiently raise their level of performance.

Olivier Giroud is a player that has divided opinion during his Gunners tenure. He has found resounding credit difficult to come by. I don’t think anybody would argue that Giroud is at the level of striker Arsenal fans have become accustomed to. This, multiplied by the general frustration over transfer inactivity in his position, led to some of the qualities he does possess being underplayed. For his first two seasons at the club, Giroud had little or no competition for his place, but that changed this summer with the signings of Alexis Sanchez and Danny Welbeck.

Over the last month or so, there are several Arsenal players that have discovered a rich vein of form. Since returning from injury, Olivier Giroud is, to my mind, very much in that coterie of players that are playing some of the best football of their Arsenal careers. Seven goals and two assists in twelve starts is a respectable tally. Giroud’s record against big teams has been understandably called into question, but this year he has registered goals against away at Manchester City (also scoring against them in the Community Shield), Liverpool, Everton and at home to Manchester United.

The signings of Welbeck and Alexis offered the potential for mobility in the centre forward position, a quality Giroud has been known to lack (lest we forget that Alexis was preferred to Giroud in a central role at Goodison Park in August). It’s true that the Frenchman would struggle to amend his issues with pace. But he has shown greater willingness to drift off into wide areas to make room for runners centrally in Arsenal’s increasingly fluid attack. Against Villa on Sunday for instance, Walcott and Özil spent a lot of time drifting into centre forward positions and that was made possible by Giroud’s flexibility.

In recent seasons, Giroud formed a much more traditional ‘little and large’ partnership with Theo Walcott. Both have very obvious qualities which were catered to very directly. It was also occasionally very predictable and easily nullified by deep defences. Giroud has always been a good central pivot for other players to bounce off of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vCbux8XHK0, but he has varied his forward play this season with a greater willingness to utilise channels and wide areas. See for instance, his tee up for Rosicky at Brighton, which emanated from a slightly wider position.

For Walcott’s effusive finish on Sunday, Giroud was stationed in the channel with Walcott running inside him. Indeed, it looked as though Cazorla was trying to nudge the ball wide to him when Theo grabbed the baton and ran with it. It could be that Giroud’s subtle shift towards a more flexible game has been a direct response to the gauntlet thrust at him by the purchases of Welbeck and Alexis. It could be a natural progression as familiarity in the team germinates. It may be that three months on the sidelines in the early part of the season offered him some time for reflection and analysis of his weaknesses.

Back in September I wrote that the signing of Welbeck could potentially reduce Arsenal’s dependence on Giroud and Walcott, because he offers a hybrid of both players’ qualities. In that piece I also aired my suspicion that Wenger would prefer to move away from a fixed target man at centre forward in favour of a more rounded, fluid approach. Perhaps Giroud felt the same and has sought to adapt his game accordingly?

Giroud’s technical level is certainly high enough to help contribute to Arsenal’s build up play. He has proved to be a pleasing foil for players running past him, as Aaron Ramsey would attest. However, the Gunners have lots of players that start wide and like to run inside and he’s showing a greater appreciation of that and Arsenal are making better, less readable angles as a result. In the shadow of the resurrection of Coquelin, the form of Rosicky, Monreal and Cazorla, the emergence of Bellerin and the goalkeeper debate, Giroud’s form has flown under the radar somewhat.

Like Giroud, Santi Cazorla arrived at Arsenal in the summer of 2012. Though Cazorla was a signing from the top shelf, it was at something of a reduced price and possibly the last purchase of Arsenal’s age of relative parsimony. Cazorla’s capture was the boost over the wall into the final furlong of financial prosperity. Like Giroud, the little Spaniard has had to contend with increased competition in his position, with the arrival of Özil and the form of Aaron Ramsey. Santi was very much the star in 2012-13, but his aforementioned colleagues saw to it that Cazorla had to recalibrate his game and accept a slot further down the bill last season.

Cazorla was moved out to the left wing. This was both to accommodate Ramsey and Özil and also to facilitate Cazorla’s wanderlust. He had a tendency to drift deep, which was not always entirely suited to the number 10 role. Wenger usually deploys a left sided player with license to roam in field. The issue was that Cazorla’s roaming tends to happen closer to the halfway line and even inside his own half. Whereas the likes of Pires, Arshavin and Nasri would do so in the final third of the pitch. The solution appears to have been part accident, part conscientiousness on the player’s part.

Santi has played a deeper role in Arsenal’s midfield and the reason he has been trusted to do so is because he has added to the defensive side of the game. He was never a shirker in this respect, but his tackling average has risen from 1.0 tackles per game to 2.0 a game this season. Martin Keown spoke eloquently about Cazorla’s discipline alongside Ramsey, with Coquelin tucked in behind them. Ramsey and Cazorla has proved to be a complimentary partnership. Cazorla’s ability to release pressure in tight spaces was most notable when he was forced back by Liverpool’s incessant pressing in December. He was a standout player whilst Arsenal’s other midfielders were profligate in the face of Liverpool’s tirelessness.

Ramsey and Santi have the discipline to sit back when the opposition are in possession and both have the ability to launch attacks. This dovetail was at its best in the victory at Eastlands. Cazorla likes to master transitions with the ball at his feet. He is capable of switching the play, or finding the right pass. Ramsey likes to run beyond the ball and be on the end of the build up play. Cazorla works with the ball, Ramsey without it. They are very happy to leave one another to their own devices.

This discipline allows Özil and / or Alexis to play a freer role from wide positions and concentrate on causing damage in the final third. They can push the ball to Arsenal’s midfield and make forward runs knowing that Cazorla will take care of it. (In this sense, Cazorla has smoothed the gap of Arteta’s absence). Or else they can stay in advanced positions and expect to receive the ball. Özil is a wonderful finisher, his élan in front of goal means he rarely misses when presented with a chance. With Cazorla and Ramsey in the middle, potentially the German’s goal tally can increase.

It hasn’t always been apparent this season but the level of the Arsenal squad has heightened. This of course puts some players under threat and already we have seen the climate become too unforgiving for some. Giroud and Cazorla, signed in the final vestiges of Arsenal’s era of relative austerity, have demonstrated an aptitude for improvement. This season, both have managed to preserve their status by adding new dimensions to their game. Their environment has become more competitive and both are meeting the challenge consummately.

http://arseblog.com/2015/02/giroud-awakening/

Totally agree with everything except:

Özil is a wonderful finisher, his élan in front of goal means he rarely misses when presented with a chance.

Needs to work quite a bit on that imho

IIRC, Giroud also dabbled with drifting out wide last season, assisting Özil's first career header goal, played in Ramsey for his Norwich volley.

Also, he's got a great understanding with Özil. They've connected to score a bunch of times since he came.

Happy to see him get praise, Cazorla as well.

And happy with our squad atm. We got our CB and DM, even if it was later than we'd have liked. Think we'd all agree we still expect some reinforcement in our midfield the summer with Diaby and Flamini surely goners + Arteta injury prone even if he does stay.