The need for inevitability (Positives Needs & Hopes) [ARS 1-1 BHA] Part Two

 The need for inevitability

  An Arsenal blog from a coach’s perspective

This is technically Part 2 of this weeks blog. Part one was dedicated to a nice chap called Chris. You can read about Chris and what he was up to on the weekend right here….

I sit here guilty of what I’m going to complain about.

Having run oodles of football sessions over my 34 years of coaching there is one area that I largely disregarded bar 2 or 3 sessions per season.

The final action.

The situation over in the States is that even though there is huge interest now in football, there is such a lack of understanding of how to play the game properly. So, I found myself teaching so many aspects of the game that honestly shouldn’t have to be taught for long or at all. Watching players bunch up as young kids followed by their group thought that the guy on the ball is a quarterback and everybody else is a wide receiver and runs away, this took a long time to change.

I noticed that my teams were capable of scoring plenty enough to win most weeks without help as the defenders are impatient and even though American kids are better with their hands, the keepers are essentially beaten if you shoot it anywhere but at them.

When we got to a higher level I taught them the easiest way to score a goal against a good team. The better defenders play centrally and the crowd is centrally located so I taught them to go outside the full back, where there is no pressure, cut into the box and intentionally cut off the full back and slow down. If he doesn’t trip you and give you an 80% chance of scoring (penalty kick) then he has to slow down allowing you time to cut the ball back to the penalty spot for a 60% chance. Either that or hit the ball across the six yard box at the inside leg of the defender. It’s very rare that a young player uses his weak foot and so he crosses his legs over to use his favourite foot and invariably scores an own goal. My teams had a reputation for being ‘lucky because we would score 30+ goals per season from penalty kicks and own goals. What nobody knew was that it was coaching (wry smile).

Arsenal are far better than most in the final third. The amount of goals scored last year prove this as does the low blocks and respect that opponents give us.

As we are now an elite team, the bar is raised though. The best teams, the ones who win the PL and CL, give a feeling of inevitability in the box. Arsenal are inevitable in their ability to keep possession, show patience and defend with a supreme seriousness. We are yet to get to these levels in our final action. This isn’t a criticism, just the greatest need.

I always judge on feelings first. When Saka gets the ball wide, I feel like he will make the right decision. His super power. When he takes his man on, I feel like he is going to be successful. When Trossard is about to shoot, I stand up. When Martinelli is 1 v 1 against the keeper I feel like he will score. On other teams, I feel this inevitability when Salah cuts inside. When Haaland is about to shoot, when De Bruyne is on the edge of the box, when Son is 1 v 1, when Harry Maguire is trying to defend a cross or Onana is doing some new weird body shape to make no attempt to  save a 1v1.

I know that it isn’t an absolute but the possibility is high.

I don’t feel this way when we are about to cross or finish. I don’t want to be extreme, because I know it’s possible, but I don’t feel it’s inevitable. As I’ve often said, I want my players to come alive in those areas. Froth at the mouth with an increased sense of aggression. I see our team able to keep possession in every other area but too often not offer the correct angle for a cutback or run to early and hide behind defenders.

Saka and Martinelli look a little confused and often second guess their crossing choice and I don’t think it’s on them. I think they need clarity. Players are offering an obvious pass. I do think that we may have made a mistake in not signing a box monster as an option. I thought Viktor Gyokeres was a perfect rotational option.

As I said earlier, this isn’t an emergency, but it’s the next step to another level. A level of inevitability where Arsenal win by 5+ quite regularly.

Max and I don’t watch much City anymore. I never used to bother with Bayern Munich, either. I could watch them score 1 or maybe 2 but then I’d turn it off. It never mattered because I don’t support them, but the jeopardy seemed to have gone. I’d love Arsenal to be that inevitable, but I do fear that this won’t happen unless we get Trossard in 5-8 goalscoring situations per game or sign an elite finisher that gives clarity to the minds of our wingers who have achieved the first part of their journey to inevitability by routinely beating their man, but seem like they have double vision when it comes time to complete their final action.

POSITIVES:

Playing 10 v 11:

I can’t say I was proud at the end of the game but after re-watching I was certainly willing to see the teams refusal to give BHA simple chances.

Raya:

He has been our best player so far this season. Talking of inevitable, this is how I feel when Raya is asked to perform any handling action whether it be a cross or a shot. I simply can’t remember a technical mistake. Exudes so much confidence and gives so much to the defenders.

Fast start:

The need to start fast is important as I’ve said too often. We are now doing this more often than not and it’s impressive. We now need to address that final action so we can have games settled early.

Defensive subtleties:

I wanted to point out how good we are at putting strikers off balance in our box. Most teams do it but have a player who is angry/over aggressive and turns it to a negative. When the ball is in air you simply have to firmly nudge them, early. They lose a little balance but more importantly, they lose the flight of the ball and aren’t able to execute.

Havertz:

What is his best quality? That’s hard. It might be that he doesn’t switch off. He’s alive to possibilities and often gets a step on others because of it. His goal was a perfect example. Others were watching Dunk making a meal of defending that long ball, but he saw opportunity and gambled that Saka was getting there first which he did. The same for the chance at the end. Others looked exhausted and he likely was too. He saw the opportunity behind the defence and his touch and speed saw him a little unfortunate to not win the game.

Composure in adversity:

I think Brighton and Veltman in particular had Arsenal rattled. You can’t expect players to not feel the huge frustration of facing injustice but it’s how you channel it. Let it make you angry enough to focus and react quicker in your duels. A determination to show them the scoreboard in the 96th minute and know how much it will sting them.

Trossard cross:

It’s rare that we cross the ball first time so his cross really stands out. It was actual perfection and Odegaard didn’t seem like he believed it was coming to him.

Calafiori overlap:

A new weapon. Here comes the locomotive!!

Timber:

He is slowly growing into playing centrally in small spaces. Give him time. Defensively he is excellent. Minteh is powerful, quick and tricky but never worried Timber. It’s so nice to have so many full back options as this player has become more important in recent years.

Gabriel bravery:

Ten v eleven brings out the best of him. If he’s ever struggling and you are winning, get a man sent off and the soldier becomes Braveheart.

NEEDS: 

One touch possibilities:

For a team with so much variety on the ball and so much technique, we rarely play one touch balls forward. If you watch off the ball, Kai Havertz in particular is often darting behind, but no pass. I always teach scanning this way…. look for colour, not players, and look far. If you look far then you will see your close options too. If you only look locally you will miss opportunities like Havertz is giving us.

Falling over:

‘If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.’ I appreciate the honour in our players trying not to exaggerate contact but we are throwing away gifts that the referee is willing to give. Havertz and Saka are both determined to stay on their feet. Against Brighton, Saka really had to go down at the end as he wasn’t ready to shoot and we have dropped two points from a gift that was refused.

Mid blocks:

The need for one touch passes behind the backline is illuminated when you see how teams like Villa and Brighton are blocking our progressive passes in central areas. Arsenal also need to work on playing mid blocks as it’s currently the best set up when playing us.

White decision:

Did you notice that White didn’t push forward? I think Arteta was concerned about Mitoma. The thing is though that Mitoma wasn’t forced back to help watch our triangle of Saka, Odegaard and White.

Arteta:

Did Mikel react quickly enough to the red card? He probably had so many ideas that they get tangled in his head and he has to untangle them before deciding. When he went to a 5-4-1 diamond midfield, Brighton struggled. The team looked confused between defensive systems and seemed to me playing two opposing ways. We needed someone to go down hurt so Mikel got to chat with them.

BHA coach:

He is obviously another very good coach. I would describe his team as ‘dangerous’ and a team that understands the importance of passing weight in order to play one touch and therefore makes opponents dizzy and sometimes unable to track runners for fear of taking their eye off the ball. I was concerned by two things though. Most of those in the stadium were wearing a jersey and shorts. He was dressed in an oversized puffa vest and looked like he’d borrowed his Dad’s Everest climbing emergency apparel. Then in the press conference, he didn’t have to act like he had put his brain in backwards. Arrogance is killing Ten Hag’s reputation.

Odegaard 9/19:

I’m guessing that his injury has impacted his game. I’m thinking that the lack of Rice and Merino affects Arteta’s thinking in taking Odegaard out. A very tactical game to risk bring Nwaneri in. I also think that if Odegaard had that through ball back he wouldn’t try a travela as that was the whole game because Calafiori is rather good in the final third.

BHA goal:

I can’t believe that Thomas Partey isn’t going to have an awkward 1 on 1 chat with the coaches this week as his attempt to stop Pedro scoring is way outside of our non negotiables. Consistent effort and the willingness to do the difficult things have been a hallmark of why Arsenal are the best out of possession team in Europe.

Veltman:

Don’t read this part if you are still fuming. It won’t help.

As you can see in the image, Veltman is already pleading his innocence before Rice is even on the ground. He knows exactly what he’s just done.

MARK’S THOUGHTS:

These are the thoughts of my friend, Mark Sherrod. Mark played for Houston Dynamo and San Jose Earthquakes in the MLS and was on course to be the striker for the USA in the World Cup before injury forced him to retire. He played for me for many years and I took him to The Emirates when he was a teenager. He returned with his beautiful wife Betsy, for the BHA game.

I really liked this observation… “Personally, the maturity I saw from the first game diminished in the second. It has nothing to do with the team being exhausted or Rice kicking the ball away, it all had to do with the complaining after each call. We were down a person and Saka or Havertz would get fouled near the final third and they would throw their hands up and complain. 11v11, sure…you have the “luxury” to complain at times but when you’re down a man and stay in the final third complaining, you’ve now put in us a really difficult position.
I thought we did well to walk away with a point given the horrible circumstance but because of what I said, sometimes it looked like we were down 5 players, not just one.”

This is unlike Arsenal. Again, the injustice wasn’t channeled correctly. A good lesson though.

HOPES:

Powder dry, but why?

Have you been wondering why we didn’t spend any of our transfer budget? We actually made more than we spent. I saw a theory that could quite easily be the answer.

City are going to get punished. There will be too many lawsuits if they aren’t and the reputation of the league will plummet if they don’t. What if Arsenal and Liverpool have left their piggy banks alone because Haaland, Foden, Dias etc.. are going on the market in January or next summer? I’d say there is a high likelihood of this. It just adds up. Liverpool bought a back up goalie who won’t even arrive until next season and Arsenal, after Sesko, didn’t chase a striker. Of all their players it has to be Haaland that we would go for. Let’s say we had a 200M budget like the year before. You’d need that plus some to get him. Well, actually there might be a relegation discount, but the competition for his signature will be fierce.

Neto:

I don’t really know much about Neto. My friend is an AFCB fan and tells me that he is an excellent shot stopper and good on crosses. Off the field, he is excellent. He was their captain. The downside is that he has a blooper in him.

Sterling:

I suggested this a few weeks ago. Just makes short term sense. My only concern was fee and salary and I believe he is costing us Reiss Nelson’s weekly wage. A fantastic deal. What I am most looking forward to is having Saka watch and learn how often he runs behind the defence and how good he is at positioning himself to score easy goals. He has a reputation for erratic finishing and I think that’s valid. At the same time though he seems to get multiple chances per game.

The most important factor though is motivation. Chelsea have greatly upset him. Southgate and England, the same. It’s highly doubtful that he will play for a better team than Arsenal for the rest of his career and so he also has motivation to earn a contract. I don’t think he’s going to need a pep talk.

Small squad/budget:

I know Arteta stated many years ago that he prefers a small squad. I get it. It adds true and realistic competition and creates squad harmony. For the opposite affect, see west London.

I do just wonder if we are too short for 3 games a week for the 4 month period of 3 games a week. Injuries will determine this.

Mitoma:

Very surprised that a big team didn’t snaffle him. BHA were probably ready for bids as they bought a bunch of wingers.

Baleba:

One to keep an eye on. He is strong, fast and a powerful player that nearly put a hole in Gabriel’s chest. He will play for a top club soon.

v Spurs:

Do we go with Jesus and move Havertz to midfield? Probably. Do we play Jorginho in a 4-2-3-1 and leave Havertz up top? Maybe. I would have chosen Jesus or Zinchenko at left eight, but it’s not been tried before. There is the option of playing Trossard at left eight and bringing in Sterling or Martinelli. Arteta might be tempted if Angie PastaCheeseSauce plays his suicidal high line. There is the small chance he trusts Nwaneri, but that’s a lot to ask.

FINAL THOUGHT:

It’s important to end with a giggle after that unjust weekend. Here goes…

Mike McDonald

Former Highbury regular. Moved to TN, USA in ’99. Married with 3 kids. Coached in UK and US for 27 years.
Mike McDonald Soccer Academy in Morristown TN, Olympic Development coach, Regional Premier League Champion.