You don’t want to play Arsenal (Positives Needs & Hopes) [WHU 2-5 ARS]

‘You don’t want to play Arsenal’

An Arsenal blog from a coach’s perspective

Oh, how football changes so quickly. Oh, how quick we are to look at our coaching and player talent and fear and forget. Oh, how quickly we lose faith.

About a month ago, the title of this blog could’ve been, ‘A great time to play Arsenal.’ It was. We weren’t bad but we weren’t good enough.

Now, I think the best word to describe us is ‘inevitable.’

West Ham represent much of the modern Premier League. A team with a bigger budget than a team who got to the Champions League Final in Borussia Dortmund. A team with a handful of players who could get into a top team like Dortmund. Players like Bowen, Paqueta and Kudus. In fact, I could easily see Dortmund having Todibo, Alvarez and Summerville, too. My point is that West Ham should be a tricky opponent. They are for many others. They certainly shouldn’t be losing 0-6 and 2-5 to any team back to back. How does that happen then? Well, it only happens against the elite. The teams that could claim to be one of Europe’s top five. That no matter whether you have half of your line up capable of playing for a team that got to the CL final in May, you can’t contain this version of Arsenal.

It’s not just that we are capable of being elite, though. You have to dig deeper and look for the ‘how.’ In order to figure this out it’s best to look at Arsenal from the perspective of an opponent’s coaching staff. So, you are playing Arsenal. How long is the list of things that are you concerned about? Well,I suppose that’s the whole point. When Arsenal find rhythm it is hard to find many teams in the world with such a long list of problems for opponents.

Here is a list…

1. Stop Odegaard

Not simple because he plays in an unorthodox position. If you man mark him, you have to leave gaps in central areas, as he stays right. Even if you man mark him or block his passing lanes, he’s still going to get the ball. Then when he gets the ball, he is one of the hardest players in football to dispossess because he is technically brilliant and protects it with textbook perfection and if you think you have him cornered, he will wiggle those jelly hips and break your ankles. So, the best that you can do is just bring sufficient numbers over to his side to contain him and…

2. This other rather good player called Saka.

But how do you stop the best young winger in the world when he can kill you seven ways?

3. So, those two are Arsenal’s best attackers yet…

…..the goals come from everywhere. Literally everywhere. If the main point is to stop the opponent scoring and your job is to communicate how to do this to your players and practice it,  then best of luck to you. Arsenal are a unique team that score from every position bar the keeper. Literally. Timber is often our furthest forward player and I’d imagine he will become an irregular scorer to add to his ability to assist. Same goes for Ben White. The handsome Italian will likely do the same as Timber but in a different way. He scored more goals than any defender in Serie A last season, most from long range. Give Zinchenko the license to push forward and he may only score 1 or 2 but his left peg could open the pre-game beans.

Saliba is a set piece threat like all centre backs but his Brazilian buddy could end up with 10 goals easily.

Partey is a true threat if you run behind. Very few can dink like him and he is a genuine threat from the top of the box, too. Rice has all the tools and seems like a midfielder who will one day explode particularly in the goalscoring aspect. I wouldn’t be surprised if in his mid-twenties he regularly gets 10 goals a season. Merino is one of the most interesting and all-round midfielders in Europe and certainly one of the biggest threats on the 3rd man run. Nwaneri just needs opportunity and he will add to his g/a, no doubt.

I wonder if there is a forward line in Europe that share the goals as evenly as we do? Even though Saka shines above all in goals and assists in total, they’re all remarkably close in goals. If you aren’t sure about that think how hard it is to guess ‘who just scored for Arsenal?’ What is easier is actually guessing who scored when we score five. I doubt you’d say that one player scored 3 or 4. What does this matter though? Well, it’s just healthier. Not only because things don’t fall apart when Sammy O’ Sackfull gets injured, but simply when trying to stop a team where their main threats are almost everybody. Stopping Arsenal scoring might seem easier than stopping Haaland, but it’s much harder to stop ‘all of them’ than the guy who scores almost 50% of their goals. This spreads out the block and makes finding space in the bus so much easier.

It’s not just that all of the players are capable, it’s also the types of goals they are scoring. If you squeeze high then all of Saka, Martinelli and Havertz are as quick as their defenders and their timing of runs gives them a head start. If you block the wings from receiving the ball then Havertz steps out and becomes a pivot for central creation. If the ball goes wide then you have aerial threats in Merino and Havertz in particular and then you add 3 of the back 4 when you have wide set plays. The routines are varied and the targets never stand in areas where you can easily locate or grapple with them. If you press Arsenal in their own half then we are so far from Emery’s version of ‘playing out from the back.’ We are in the ‘expert’ category. That might actually be Arsenal’s preference, as it leaves Saka one on one, and then the chaos begins.

4. Knock Arsenal around.

If you play physically against Arsenal then you lose that too. Not only do we have lots of tall trees but one of them is the ‘top duel winner in Europe.’ They aren’t just good at the physical game either. There are a lot of PL teams that do this but they don’t have the athleticism or speed and most importantly, positional drilling to win the loose ball. You can play for set plays, but Arsenal don’t have ‘stupid players’ so beyond pouncing on Zinchenko’s weekly mistakes from 23-24, good luck to you.

5. Control the mental game

Maybe the toughest mental battle is dealing with how you score at all. Even though Arsenal haven’t been as clean sheety as last season, you have to really be on it to even create a 0.5 xG chance. That was magnified for me when Wan Bissaka scored because I assumed that it was offside as it seemed too easy. A rare sight.

You can hope to score early on Arsenal and control the emotion of the game or wait until late hoping we get nervous, but that doesn’t really happen. So good luck if that is your strategy.

6. High level thinking

If you want to use advanced tactics including positional rotation and multi formational situations then Arsenal see you because we do this better than you do.

7. Give up and go random

If you want to just give up and do something that relies more on luck, like tossing endless balls into the box, then I can’t tell you a game ever where Raya, Saliba and Gabriel were taken advantage of. In fact you are just giving Raya a counter attacking opportunity, so that’s actually silly.

8. Dominate the midfield

If trying to stop our midfield is your focus then you have a problem there too. I’d imagine that Thomas Partey is in the top 1 of ‘most comfortable central midfielders on the ball in any situation.’ So, going into the game you have to attempt to block Arsenal centrally as Partey, Rice, Merino, Jorginho and Odegaard can retain possession all day and all night.

9. Make them go long

Doesn’t work. Arsenal have mastered how to play this way too.

10. Shouldn’t be possible but…

I suppose the best strategy against Arsenal is taking advantage of the plethora of crap referees in the league. That is how Brighton and City got  points from us.

My conclusion on how to prepare for Arsenal I suppose is spend your two training days at acting school. There are a few in the London area. I’m sure they have taken advantage of the lack at the PGMOL and have classes available. Like…

• Walking back and forth down hallways made for 1.5 people and dramatically reacting to bumping shoulders
• Irish dancing in a 5 by 5 grid. Your whole squad involved. Reacting dramatically to having your toes repeatedly stepped on. (I just noticed that Luiz Diaz has recently taken this class.)
• ‘How to entice Arsenal to do something that everyone is doing but don’t worry about it, we only card Arsenal’ class.
• Chanting ‘ this city is s*it ‘ in the middle of Manchester city centre as there is a 5/7 chance that you will eventually see one of the PL refs out shopping for a burner phone

On Saturday we saw West Ham give up. I hated watching Liverpool in the 80’s, Utd in the 90’s and City in the 10’s. Opponents would give up after the second goal. I didn’t squeal about it because you earn that level of respect. I’m fine if there are more second halves like Saturday. It seems almost inevitable.

Whisper it quietly but I think this is our strategy. Close every door of encouragement and they will accept their fate. In a very crowded schedule, this would be a very smart strategy.

POSITIVES:

Corners:

Arsenal needed to get back on the corner scoring track. Belief was gained and yet another dose of fear was applied. Honestly, I don’t understand why opponents don’t physically man mark the biggest threat with two players. I know that much like my list above, it opens up opportunities for others, but Gabriel’s record is far superior. I understand that you want your defending CB’s free to play zonally and attack the ball but their running start is short. Gabriel is scoring not just because he’s good at it but for a 6 ft 4 player to get above the ball so he doesn’t head it over, is very hard unless he gets big elevation. I sit here watching Rico Lewis trying to contain VVD on corners and Dias and Ake having zero impact. It’s like playing one of those games at the fair for VVD. You get 5 free balls to hit the target and you’ll probably get at least one knocked down.

Saka stats:

I’m not a big stats guy but they do most certainly speak accurately of Saka’s biggest strengths. I’d say that his biggest two strength’s are a) decision. making and b) consistency.

Neither sound fancy but are what separates the good from the better. Can Anthony Gordon do all the skills that Saka can? Apart from Saka’s strength, I’d say he can do them. Can he do them at the right time though? If he did, he’d have better stats. When he does we say, ‘wow’ as it’s unusual. When Saka does it we just accept it because it’s frequent. Can Anthony Gordon consistently threaten with goals, expected goals and assists because this is where stats are very useful. Unfortunately for Newcastle, he can’t. Once every 3-4 games does not make you inevitable like Saka. What is interesting is that when Saka doesn’t play well (once a season) or score or assist, it seems like he has been poor because his standard is so high.

Consistency is a coach’s dream. You see Arteta and others constantly challenging their players to ‘do it again’ rather than over applaud them for doing it once.

Trossard goal:

Every once in a while you score a perfect goal. Perfect through the coach’s filter. What is this? Well, if you play for Arsenal it is a goal that looks simple. Like a ‘training ground goal.’ Scored with minimal touches and fuss. A goal drawn on a coaching board that doesn’t happen in reality much. Coaches will see a version of their planned goal often but it may have happened with more touches and more ball recycling before the execution. Once in a while football looks so simple because it is, unless you are profusely sweating, being pushed whilst executing, have a greatly elevated  heart rate and the pause of noise and the weight of expectation on you as you try to score.

I suppose that’s why it doesn’t happen often, like the coaching board tells you.

Committing opponents:

One of Arsenal’s many details of play is forcing opponents to commit before passing. It takes one player out of the play and gives the option of a bounce pass or one-two. We do this very well and other teams, not so.

Havertz finish:

I was almost as excited by this goal than Trossard’s textbook effort. I love when Havertz does something ‘textbook’ himself because he’s not really been trained as a striker. When a leftie goes through on goal straight on the keeper he should always shoot down the keepers right. As close to his feet as is safe. Why? Stop reading, get up and try to dive on your ankles. Not humanly possible. If a leftie goes to his right he hits the ball straight and it’ll go in the middle of the goal. Get it past the keeper and it’s a guaranteed goal. Hit it past his left foot and it travels diagonally and therefore has the very corner as a target, only.

Weak foot joy:

After pounding all professional footballers in my last blog for only having one foot they trust, I have to commend Trossard for his beautiful weak foot assist for Havertz. It’s sad to say that he needs applause but most all players would’ve shifted the ball back to their favoured foot and nobody would’ve noticed. Kind of a shame.

Intentional overloading:

Why do Arsenal look for an overload on the right as their main attacking tactic? Why do they seem to keep it there for longer and longer? Well, we have gotten to the point where if that zone is super crowded, it doesn’t matter. We just rondo them to death until a gap appears.

The main reason why we drag more and more defenders over there is again because it doesn’t stop the dissection on that side and it leaves players in central areas, on the top of the box and at the back post with less defenders to contend with if the ball is shifted from the right.

Zinchenko sub:

I thought that this sub was clever. The game was over and we just needed technical security.

Jorginho:

If Jorginho wants to accept his minutes then I’d keep renewing him. He obviously has such an impact on team organization on and off the field but his ability hasn’t waned either. Knowing where to stand, what to do and when is a gift that all coach’s want. Some would actually put ‘sporting intelligence’ as their number one quality.

Raya passing:

His distribution is so good and he is so confident that we are now using his low, line breaking passing ability to be the final pass when trying to play out from the back. We suck them in, shift them around until there is a large gap in the middle of the field near the halfway line for Odegaard (normally) to turn and set Saka free.

NEEDS:

Trossard defending:

He needs to make a decision defensively. He is often tardy getting goal side which is problem number one. The second issue is not going compact. If you can’t catch the runner then get close to Gabriel and stop the dissection.

A so called experienced referee:

Emerson’s goal was beautiful. He is a brilliant free kick taker. We should never have been exposed to his first free kick, though. When a referee makes such a bad error as Anthony Taylor did when Rice clearly won the ball literally within spitting distance of him, that’s when referees should come on camera and apologize. It would be tactical as Emerson’s goal didn’t change the game but it would be a start in healing the distrust. They should step in front of the camera and remind us that they are human by owning their mistake. Because they don’t and because my eyeballs work and I’m not naive, I think he gave them a free kick because he wanted to. As simple as that. I’ve been around people with little power my whole life and had some myself. Almost all of them misuse their power at some point, some all the time and some wake up frothing at the mouth waiting to make someone’s day difficult.

HOPES:

Liam Delap:

My friend Bob, who kindly comments frequently here not only has a unique way with words himself, but has an eye for a player. Nobody else has mentioned Liam Delap in regards to Arsenal finding a second striker. Bob wrote to me the other day impressed with Liam Delap at Ipswich. I wonder if Arteta worked with him at City? It’s getting late and I’m gonna be lazy and not research that but either way he will be aware of his development. He’s playing for a team that has an extremely low XG and often rely on him as a savior as he has a tendency to be able to score goals by himself. Any player that plays for City’s Academy, which is arguably the best in the country, is worth looking at and Delap could very well be the next big thing coming through. Don’t be put off by his numbers as Mo Salah would have similar XG if he was playing alone at Ipswich. Maybe that’s an exaggeration, but you know what I mean.

There are a couple of players, and a growing list of possibles, that I wonder about in regards to England’s 2026 World Cup selection. It’s a long way off, but I’d imagine Ethan Nwaneri will be in it as I think he will be too good to ignore. I’ve also predicted that he will make the England squad by the end of this season. Liam Delap is the other one for me. That second and third striker behind Harry Kane is still up for grabs and Ivan Toney threw his chance away so the queue is shorter. I need to pay more attention to Liam Delap and I will do so before giving a firm opinion. Thank you to Bob for the clever tip.

The same age as my Max!!:

I think that Max Dowman may well be on the bench for our 3rd round FA Cup tie and maybe make the bench for our Palace Carabao Quarter-Final. He has been training with the first team for most of the season. Such a joy to watch him glide like our captain.

TWEETS and THOUGHTS:

Just incase you ever forget at what level Saka is at and who his name needs to be mentioned alongside.

A super player who is about to add goals to his impressive toolbox of abilities.

Almost not a joke.

FINAL THOUGHT:

Not the best time to play Man Utd? Maybe.

Not the best time for Man Utd to play Arsenal? Absolutely.

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.