With the amount of possession we have most games we really should be scoring more. This is sometimes due to poor finishing, occasionally wrong decisions and sometimes (rarely though) failing to create sufficient chances. Football is a low scoring game so naturally there will be times when you fail to

“We need x, we need y.” Many fans right now are looking at our recent run of form and arguing we need signings, have no leaders, have no pace etc. I agree on the whole but recently have noticed a few tactical issues which if addressed I feel could make a huge difference. Now I should make it clear that I am no tactical genius and I’m not going to list every tactical problem I have noticed (there are quite a few!) but I feel that my time playing football and watching more games than the average fan from different leagues have given me a decent insight into that part of the beautiful game.

There can be little debate that Barcelona is currently the best team in the world. I, like many Gooners, was devastated when we crashed out of the Champions League at their hands. Many excuses were offered up in the wake of that loss but ultimately we were outplayed. Journalists took joy in stating the fact that Barca beat ‘Barca-lite’. It is this lazy journalism that bugs me. The more I think about this name, the more I dispute it. For I feel we actually have little in common with Barcelona. Sure, we play some nice stuff but so do many other teams. In fact this season, using the double-pivot in midfield, we don’t even have the same shape as them anymore.

In this post I’m going to focus on the issues I like to call the 3 Ps: Pressing, possession and penetration.

Pressing

Okay, so we ARE trying to be a bit like Barca! Why not? This seems to be the most obvious trait we have tried to take from them in the last year. As Mean Lean has frequently said, when we press the opposition high and as a unit we are some force to be reckoned with. You will recall the game at home to Chelsea this season as a game that encapsulates this belief. We suffocated them and got our just reward. Yet for whatever reason we don’t do this all the time. Why is this? Do we just press when we feel like it or are there different instructions game to game? Do we not have the necessary fitness to implement it throughout the high tempo season of the Premier League? I would love to know the reason we press intermittently as it does no favours to the defence.

As a central defender myself I can say that a lot of the pressure is taken off the defence if you press high. This much is obvious. I can also imagine that our inconsistent pressing does no favours for the central defenders’ mindset. “Do I move up or hold my position?” they must constantly ask themselves. How many times have the opposition scored off a simple long ball over our high line when there has been no pressure on the ball. It isn’t a coincidence. The sooner we decide to press in every game the better.

Possession

I hear many of you wondering “What is he going on about? We have loads of possession every game.” And you would be right. However, I ask you to think of these games where we have a lot of possession. It’s often because the opposition say “there you go Arsenal, there’s the ball. Now try and do something with it while we reverse our Megabus in front of the goal.” Whenever a team presses us high and ‘has a go’ we seem to have problems keeping the ball. This is despite us having very technically-able players. So why is this? Emmanuel Petit said this in a recent interview:

“Players are playing against their nature a bit. Barca play exceptional football and from an early age they teach the boys the same way. That’s not the case with Arsenal. There are players we’ve known for a while who are playing against their nature. I’m thinking of lads like Abou Diaby, whose physical impact is a bit less. There are players who try to play in the image of Cesc Fabregas when they don’t have the same qualities.”

I do disagree with the bit about Arsenal not teaching the boys to play the same way as that has changed since Arsene joined. The latest batch of boys from Hale End led by the emergence of Wilshere is seeking to address that. However, with the rest he’s spot on. The likes of Diaby and Song weren’t playing tiki-taka at La Masia at the age of 8. While they have good technique we cannot expect them to play like Xavi or Fabregas. They have their own qualities and these haven’t been utilised enough in my opinion. This brings me on to the final P.

Penetration

With the amount of possession we have most games we really should be scoring more. This is sometimes due to poor finishing, occasionally wrong decisions and sometimes (rarely though) failing to create sufficient chances. Football is a low scoring game so naturally there will be times when you fail to score. But there are occasions when many an Arsenal fan will shout “SHOOT” for the player to then try and find a teammate.

Sometimes the outcome can be glorious and we have scored a large proportion of goals in recent years by literally walking the ball into the net. But more often than not, the chance goes with no player taking responsibility. Cristiano Ronaldo takes more shots than most players and though most don’t go in, the sheer quantity of shots he takes means that he has a greater chance of scoring. It’s simple maths really!

The use of our fullbacks is another issue that has irritated me for some time. Like Dani Alves, our full backs get forward a lot (though not to the same ridiculous extent!). However, that is where the similarities end. Why do we just aimlessly toss the ball into the box? Why don’t we play to our strengths and play quick one-twos on the edge of the box before cutting the ball back? It would help our attacking play no end.

My final issue regarding penetration is about dribbling. RVP, Nasri, Arshavin, Wilshere, Theo and Diaby all have the ability to run directly at opponents, making them commit and potentially taking them out of the game. Yet they don’t do it enough (with the exception of Wilshere) and if they do it’s on the flanks. Meanwhile, over at Barca, often Messi or Iniesta will drop off into a central area and run with the ball at the heart of the defence. The defenders then have to commit and if beaten a shot or pass can be made in a very dangerous area of the pitch.

Abou Diaby is much maligned and it is true that he often slows up our play. However, it is of no coincidence that his best games have been when played in an advanced central role where he can use his physique and dribbling qualities to the benefit of the team. Yet he is often played in a deeper role where crisper passing and a greater speed of thought is required to link our play at a high tempo. This is just one example but I feel it illustrates my point that we don’t play to our strengths enough and merely put players in a predesigned template regardless of their qualities.

So what I’ve been trying to say is we’re not ‘Barca-lite’ but maybe to really start winning things again we should try and be a little bit more like them.

You can follow me on twitter @hazzaboy21

Mean Lean’s Response

Thank you Hazzaboy, while reading through your points I got the sense that I could have written much of it myself such was the similarity in the questions about our system and personnel.

I agree about the lazy views calling us Barca lite, having said that I do not expect many journalists to know the difference between the styles of two teams unless it was Stoke City vs Brazil, only then would they be able to work out the differences.

Onto the 3 Ps as you very well put it. I think if I was to ask Arsene Wenger one question about our style of play then it could well be about how the players win the ball back. What does he see as the pros and cons of winning the ball back early and why it is not a standard part of his template as say the pass and move philosophy is.

Without looking at the statistics, I am sure we are more efficient both in terms of attacking and defending when the players implement the pressing game although I am sure energy levels must suffer and perhaps we would collect more injuries over the course of the season but I believe it would make every member of the squad better including the much maligned Denilson and Diaby.

As much as I dislike the arrogance of Barcelona as a club, I cannot help but admire their work off the ball. The way they squeezed us in the Camp Nou this season was quite remarkable and that was against probably the best ball possession side in the Premier League. If we defended like that against inferior technical teams then I would love to know how they would deal with that.

Although I appreciate that pressing intensely every week in La Liga is different from doing so in the Premier League.

As for possession I often feel we can be a little too patient for our own good. I have heard Arsene Wenger comment about the players needing to remain patient and keep playing their game and I am sure that has paid off many times with late goals but we are often a much more dangerous side when we move the ball quicker and are more direct in our play. By direct I do not mean the Stoke City school of direct but the quicker and sharper forward passes along the floor.

In your final section about penetration you brought up two points that I have often wondered about. Firstly the use of our fullbacks, well more our right back now as it seems that Arsene has lifted the handbrake a little on Clichy when Arshavin is ahead of him. It is no surprise that Bacary Sagna has had the most amount of assists for a right back for at least the last two years. However that position could be utilised so much more against teams at the Emirates who only have the intention of sitting back ahead of their penalty area and stopping us playing. Sagna is often the attacking spare man and with a more adventurous player in that role in those types of games I am sure we could get a greater reward. Alves is often the spare man on the right for Barcelona and whilst his crossing often makes Gael Clichy’s look like David Beckham’s his ability to beat his man and get beyond the opposition’s last defenders gives broke back Barca so many options. Emmanuel Eboue and Bacary Sagna rotated very well in those types of games well last season and I am not quite sure why that has stopped completely.

Lastly the dribbling option is something that I find very interesting. I often wonder why when we are finding it difficult to pass through stubborn defences, the likes of Samir Nasri who is a gifted dribbler doesn’t use his strengths as much as perhaps he could. The likes of Messi, Ronaldo, Nani, Bale and co make so much space by taking away at least two defenders.

It will be interesting to see what Arsene does if and when Ryo Miyaichi makes it to Arsenal or if he follows his interest in Eden Hazard or a similar type of player.

This being said, we have so much going right for us and the management have got us in a great position both short term and long term. Wenger is regularly tweaking his team to fix any technical problems we have and our league finishes over the last year have been 4th, 3rd and very possibly more than that if we can get back on track.

While we are all in tears at the thought of the players shooting themselves in the foot over the last few weeks, we are not all that far away.