Category Archives: Arsenal

Mikel Arteta searching for tactical fluidity

One criticism labelled against Mikel Arteta is his tactical stubbornness.

His critics paint a picture that Arteta’s lack of experience (it is easy to forget that this is his first job) and his ego result in his belief that he is always right and will not change his ways. This leads to a tactical stubbornness where he is neither willing nor able to make in-game tactical changes during a game, or for different games.

I do not believe Arteta is tactically stubborn.

Like all managers, he has his preferred way of setting up. And any top professional will tell you that high level performences come from a continuity of playing style and not through chopping and changing tactics game by game.

Sir Alex Ferguson never felt a need to change tactics too far from his core set up. His belief was that if his team performed to their best, following his plan, then they would win the game. It was up to their opponents to try and develop tactics that would beat his side.

Saying that, it is undeniable that Arteta does not change this as often as Pep Guardiola does at Manchester City or Arne Slott at Liverpool.

In Fantasy Football terms, Manchester City forwards (barring Erling Haaland) are considered a “no-go” due to their “rotational risk”. Meanwhile, the only consistent man in Liverpool’s front line last season was Mohamed Salah, with Darwin Nunez, Diego Jota (RIP), Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz chopping and changing for the other position.

Meanwhile, at Arsenal, if the front 3 of Gabriel Martinelli, Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka were fit, they would play. And it made us predictable.

For me, the issue is not that Arteta was tactically stubborn, but he did not have the personnel to call upon.

Some will say “that is because Arteta never signs forward players” and I do get that. But he was also hampered by injuries.

Gabriel Jesus provided us with huge tactical fluidity in the front line. He could rotate with Havertz to create a different style of attack, and could also come in for Saka and Martinelli on the wings to offer something different. But he spent most of last season injured, denying Arteta of an option to change things.

Leandro Trossard was our other forward option. But I do not think he was trusted by Arteta to start games.

Mikel spoke recently about only having 5 or 6 players that he could trust to play a full 90 minutes week in week out, saying “Last year the line up was done, ‘Give me five players who can finish 90 minutes.’ Those five? Ok, those I have to play.”

Those guys started nearly every game. and played nearly every minute (when fit). It is certainly true that Arteta did not overly trust players beyond his starting XI. and with Trossard, the statistics back this up. The Belgium is much more effective coming off the bench.

This summer, we have recruited well, bringing in Noni Madueke and Viktor Gyorekes to bolster the forward line. Ethan Nwaneri also continues his development and is now a genuine option. These guys give Arteta more options in attack, and the ability to change up or tactics in-game to give teams a different problem.

But tactical fluidity is not just about the forward line. It starts at the back.

Inverting and overlapping full-backs

Arteta’s first full season saw us start with Olexsander Zinchenko coming into midfield on the left, and Ben White overlapping on the right. It is a tactic that nearly one us the league.

The recruitment of Jurrien Timber gave us a right back who could then invert on the right, and many games last season we played with both Myles Lewis Skelly and Timber both coming central. That led to a lack of width (especially as we also had inverted wingers).

Ricardo Calafiori and Ben White offer the “overlapping” option, whilst also both being good enough to invert to cover their teammate without tactic changes. But both picked up injuries, denying the option to change things.

If all 4 men stay fit this season, Arteta then has the options to play either MLS and Timber inverted, giving us more control in the middle of the park, or White and Calafiori overlapping, giving us more offensive dynamism.

Arteta will also have the option to split the tactics, going with MLS inverted on the left and White overlapping on the right, or Calafiori overlapping on the left with White inverted on the right.

He can make the decision on how the back four lines up based both on the opponent and in-game. The small tactical tweak will be quick and easy for teammates to adapt to and change how we look to attack.

Zubimendi / Rice pivot

What was noticeable in the final preseason game against Bilbao was the interchangeability of Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi.

Whilst Zubimendi started as the deeper, with Rice more advanced, they switched throughout the game depending on the team needs.

Zubimendi provides a passing range and calmness on the ball that Rice does not have. This could be key when teams are playing with a low block. Likewise, Rice is a powerhouse runner and if the key of Zubimendi will not pick the lock, Rice’s battering ram style changes it up.

I expect throughout games this season, we will continue to see Rice and Zubimendi swap positions. But they will also play alongside each other.

There will be times when we want to completely free up the forward line, and absolve them of tracking back. Liverpool have done this with great success through the years, freeing up Salah, Sadio Mane, Gakpo and Diaz to do what the do best – explot space going forward and attack the box.

Liverpool were able to do this by playing quite a deep, efficient midfield (Jordan Henderson and Fabinho, moving to Alex Mac Alister and Ryan Gravenberch).

With the recruitment of Zubimendi, Martin Odegaard will no longer feel the need to drop back to start attacks. That pushes our captain further up the field, and we end up with Gyorekes (Or Havertz) , Martinelli, Saka and Odegaard attacking from a higher position, closer to each other, and able to interact quicker.

The flexibility of Zubimendi and Rice, alongside how we play our full backs, will make us a lot les predictable when transitioning the ball from the defence into the final third.

Wingers

For so long now, we have played inverted wingers.

Saka and Martinelli are fantastic, but they can also become predictable. Always looking to come inside. And without the overlapping full back, opposing full backs and centre-backs know that they can ignore the space outside them. Noni Madueke and the overlapping full backs changes this.

As above, Calafiori and White both offer overlapping options which will take advantage of the space left when Martinelli and Saka drop inside. They both give Arteta a tactical option off the bench if Martinelli and Saka are getting crowded out.

My belief is Madueke was primarily bought as Saka cover. A like for like replacement on the right hand side who can come on for Saka with 20 minutes to go, or start in 30% of Premier League games reducing our Starboy’s workload. But he is also an option on the left.

If Arteta decides to go with MLS on the left hand side, then Madueke can then play on that flank and hug the touchline, giving the team width. He will look to beat his fullback on the outside everytime and put crosses in.

In turn, his positioning will drag the fullback wider, giving MLS and Declan Rice more space on the left hand side of the pitch and creating an overload. And if teams then shift themselves left to cover this overload, Odegaard and Saka will be in more space on the right for a quick switch of play.

We are still in the market for a new left winger (likely to replace Trossard). This will be a right footed left winger who will allow us to maintain the current tactics. But Madueke gives Arteta the option to change it up on that flank. As does Calafiori.

Same size, different strikers

It would be easy to look at Havertz and Gyorekes and think they are similar players based on their physical attributes. This can not be futher from the truth.

Gyorekes is an out and out striker. Someone who will occupy both full backs, look to run in behind and only has goals on his mind. Meanwhile, Havertz is more of a “false 9” and will look to drop deeper, get involved in the build up, and leave space for others to occupy ahead of him.

This gives Arteta great options on who to start, and who to bring on depending on how a game is going. Something a little bit different to make slight tactical changes without changing the structure.

And Eze?

The final piece of the fluidity jigsaw could be Eberechi Eze.

Arteta has tended to overload the right with attacking talent (Saka, Odegaard, White), whilst keeping the left fairly solid defensively (Martinelli, Rice/Xhaka, MLS/Zinchenko). That can make us lobsided from an attacking point of view.

Recruiting Eze would give us both an inverted option on the left hand side to compete with Martinelli, but also an attacking option to play inside.

When chasing a game, we could go to a front 5 of Martinelli, Eze, Odegaard and Saka in behind Gyorekes (or Havertz), creating a huge attacking overload in the final 3rd as we look to score. This is a move we have gone for in the past playing Trossard inside.

But what Eze adds above Trossard is a 90 minute player.

We could line up with Eze in the left sides central position alongside Odegaard on the opposite side of the pitch in games we expect to dominate (say, Sunderland at home). And if Arteta believes a side is weaker defensively on the left against the right, we could opt for Eze centrally, with Odegaard dropping to the bench and Rice switching across to the right to provide the defensive cover.

Put simply, Eze would give Arteta a different central attacking option.

The tactical fluidity we could see next year is exciting. And whilst it will not be tinkerman level changes, the slight switches can be enough to make a positive impact in the game.

What will also be interesting is to see how Slott deals with his lack of options.

With Nunez and Diaz gone, and the sad passing of Jota, Slott has lost three attacking options. Whilst Hugo Etikite has come in, the Frenchman does not offer much forward fluidity. They will mainly be lining up with Salah, Etikiite and Gakpo, with Isak potentially coming in for Etikite.

Liverpool’s line up will be much more predictable this season compared to last, and Slott will not have as many attacking options at his disposal to make tacticial changes.

Enjoy the sunshine.

Keenos

Arsenal preparations end on a high. Now let’s get ready for the real thing.

How would “bottom tier Arsenal fans” have dealt with 2003 pre-season?

10 Replies

I have always said that the positive and negative of social media is it has made the world a smaller place.

On one hand, you now hear from people on global issues actually affected by them. A broader viewpoint from across the globe. On the other, you now get to read the view from people who you would not normally converse with and have no interest in.

I recently saw a fun little video on TikTok which summed up my issue with social media.

In school, you are split up into sets. You then go through your education based on your intelligence, with those in top set having top set conversations with fellow students of a similar high intelligence. And then those in the bottom sets having bottom set conversations with fellow students of a similar low intelligence.

Then you go off to university (or not) and the segregation continues as the more intelligent students go to the top universities such as Kings, LSE, Oxford or Durham. Those in the middle go to the likes of Essex, Sussex or UEA. And then those who really do not have the intelligence to go to uni (but want to get £30k in debt “for an experience”) end up in UEL, London Met or Middlesex University.

Further segregation of thoughts happen at university with the courses you take, with those most intelligent taking law or maths, and those least intelligent taking geography, business or something to do with the arts.

Again, throughout your university life, you naturally have conversations with those on a similar intellectual plane as you. Your friends become those who you are at uni with, and often those on the same course. You rarely interact with those at other uni’s, and therefore are not involved in conversations with people who are intellecutally above or below you.

As you enter your work life, the segregation continues.

Many people end up in their job based on their intelligence and ability to think further beyond their nose. And again this leads to a segregation of thought as the doctors, lawyers and traders have different conversations to the recruitment consultants and IT guys. And then you get the secretaries, the day labourers and electricians, and so on.

Even if you work for a major company that employs a wide spectrum of people, you often end up socialising in smaller groups. Thee lawyers will not really socialise with the secretaries (unless they are trying to shag one of them). The traders won’t socialise with the IT guys. And the builders are there to work, not to have a beer with.

Whilst some of you might find this insulting, life is split up into these groups, and it is mainly based on intelligence. You therefore go through life spending most of your time conversing with people of a similar level of intelligence.

That all comes to an end with social media.

Posts are put in front of you by the algorithm from people you would not normally converse with. You end up with bottom tier’s trying to have a discussion with top tiers on top tier topics which they have no real understanding of.

It also works the other way, with top tiers having discussions with bottom tiers on bottom tier subjects. This mixing of the minds leads to bottom tiers sharing their simplified viewpoint beyond their intellectual equals, and top tiers becoming increasingly frustrated with the stupidity of the world.

This is further exacerbated with the fact that social media is global. You get people in countries with poor education systems, and with a lower than average IQ, joining conversations with those with a much higher IQ and better level of education. But the narrowing of the world makes everyone think their view is equal.

I sometimes wonder how Arsenal and Arsene Wenger would have fared in the social media era. The era where those with a low IQ have been given a platform to share their simple viewpoints, with an inability to grasp a subject properly.

Last night we lost to Villareal by a single goal. The same scoreline against Tottenham. This has led to those bottom tiers shouting from the rooftops about how Mikel Arteta should be sacked, about how we have gone stale and that he is taking us backwards. They have all ignored the fact that it is pre-season, and that all teams treat pre-season games differently.

How would these people have survived back in the summer of 2003?

2003 saw us lose to Peterborough United, and fail to beat barely-professional Barnet, SC Ritzing, Celtic and Beveren. The uproar would have been unprecedented. But then we all know what happened that season.

Likewise, I wonder how Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp would have got in during the social media era.

Following his failure to score last night, the pile-on to Viktor Gyorekes has already started:

Two games, no goals
Hooked off after 60 minutes
Replaced upfront by a defensive midfielder

These are such a simplistic, bottom tier take that is being forced onto the feed of those far more intelligent than those making the comments. It is the sort of comments that you would not hear in the school, university or work. And if someone said it to you in the pub you would just laugh and walk away.

It is pre-season. Gyorekes has been at the club for about 12 days. He has probably had half a dozen training sessions during that time. What were these people expecting? Hat-tricks in every game? Him to play a full 90 minutes?

And you could only imagine the uproar from the same fans if he played 90 minutes last night, when clearly not fully fit, and picked up an injury!

Pre-season, as most of those who are not bottom-tierers know, is a time to get fit. And Gyrorekes is 2 weeks behind in his fitness. The fact he got through 60 minutes of work should be seen as a positive – had he played in our first pre-season game he probably would have only last 45-minutes after wholesale changes were made at half time.

And then we come on to the goals.

Being criticised after not scoring in partial pre-season appearances, as he is regaining fitness and learning to play in a new team, is a new level of idiocy.

Dennis Bergkamp failed to score in his first 8 games for Arsenal.
Thierry Henry did not score until his 7th appearance.

These are two of our greatest players of all time. Imagine them in the social media era and the criticism they would have received for their slow starts? It just makes no sense.

But it does make sense to those who have gone through life in the bottom set, or from countries with double-digit average IQ levels. Their sort of thinking is the norm around their contemporaries. And the issue is not that they have their deeply flawed view, but it is now pushed out for the world to see.

Back decades ago, these fools would have been laughed at. They would have been the court jesters or just mocked in the pub. They were the Gumbo’s of the group.

But social media has changes all that, and now many of them believe what they say is gospel because they have thousands of fellow bottom-tierers following them, creating an echo chamber.

Being the smartest in the bottom tier is not something to be proud of. But they celebrate it. And rather than better themselves and increase their knowledge, they would rather stay in the bottom tier, continuing to play to their audience on YouTube and X and get those e-likes.

It used to be easy to block out uneducated viewpoints. You just would not work or socialise with them. But with social media these days, you now have the view of those less educated shoved in your face. And this is beyond football. It is politics and global news as well.

People having their say on the state of the UK, on Palestine, on climate change. Complicated subjects. And sharing that low level viewpoint with the world thinking they are contributing to the debate. And even worse, the media put these sort of people front and centre and use them as if they represent everyone else in a community.

It simply makes a mockery of those who are not bottom tier. Everyone is then tarred with the same brush, and held to the level of the bottom tier’s viewpoint.

The media act like all Arsenal fans share the opinion of a coked-up benefit scrounger, a divvy YouTuber in Spain, or some random from Nigeria who will never go to the game.

These people are no the true representatives of the Arsenal fan base. Nor are they the true representatives of any group on other political discussions. But social media has created a world where those with bottom-tier views are shared widely and promoted as representative.

Some of you will be upset reading this blog. I would have offended you. This highlights somes lack of understanding as the issue is not that people have different views, the issue is that social media now forces those views on everyone else, no matter how idiotic they are.

Enjoy your Thursday.

PS: I was top tier in a very working class East-London school, went to a mid-tier university (Essex), studied law and became a recruitment consultant. I also do not proof read my blogs so do not care if there are spelling errors.

Keenos