‘Undeniably Elite’
End of season review part 2 (of 3)
NEEDS:
Balancing risk and control:
This would not only help us to crack the shells of the hard eggs in the league, but make us a more entertaining team. That’s what our opponents fans seem to be demanding, anyway.
I was reminded the other day when watching highlights of Martin Odegard playing for Real Madrid. Four years ago, he was playing with so much more creativity and risk. You can’t tell me that he can’t do it anymore. We are strangling the skillset of too many players who can chip it accurately over the defence, weight a beautiful through ball or combine quickly on the edge of the box. I get the feeling that Arteta doesn’t feel like he has the profile of player to do this where if he had a player like Santi Cazorla he would encourage him to. If this is the case, I would disagree.
Credit: Arsenal.com
Simplify:
I’ve talked about this endlessly so I’m not going to bore you but Arsenal need to spend more time at the chalkboard designing simpler ways to score than they do for set plays.
Consider Max;
It might be smart for us to delay signing a second winger if we sell both Leo and Martinelli.
What could happen is that we sign two wingers, preseason arrives and Max Dowman shows us that he’s better than one or both of them. Maybe we should let Dowman try to get that spot rather than be a bits and pieces player. He’s 16, I know, but he may well be ready like Cesc was. We all know that this is gonna happen eventually and considering his little explosion this season there’s no reason to think that it couldn’t happen next season.
More penalties, please:
I don’t know how many penalty kicks we got last season, but it wasn’t enough. We have to get our dribblers to run at players inside the box. Seeing as the penalty area has now become a hands behind your back attempt to ice skate without touching the attacker. Take advantage.
Functional training:
I’d love to hear about a move towards significantly more training for players in their areas of need and position.
We are going to start the season with a new forward line I would imagine and this would be super helpful.
I’ve always thought that some players’ time is better spent doing something that is more applicable to what they have to do in a game. As an example, Saliba and Gabriel aren’t really ever keeping possession under pressure. They get the ball to recycle with noone anywhere near them. They don’t need to practice possession to the same degree. Perhaps they need to practice running with the ball out of the back or their long passing.
Players leaving:
I like Norgaard. What I think of him is completely irrelevant though. What the coaching staff think of him is what’s important. I can only think that he didn’t play because of his lack of pace. He might stay around as a last resort plan, but considering that he still has at least five years left in his career I’m sure he doesn’t want to spend two seasons in a row not playing football even if he does get a nice shiny medal at the end of it.
I think Martinelli will go to Bayern Munich. I think it’s time for us to refresh, even though he is such a capable player. The bottom line is that the team has improved and each individual player has improved and he hasn’t. He was capable of great attacking and defensive moments four years ago, but we are still very much a right sided bias team due to his inconsistency. I believe that he is our longest serving player and so I’m glad for him that he finished the season with a trophy and medal because he deserved it.
I would keep Trossard unless I was convinced that I could get somebody better. Not better at football because there are lots of shiny new toys out there that have better YouTube highlights. A player that the club believes will be as efficient as Leo.
Read on below to find out the type of player I’m suggesting as a better option.
Every once in a while this season, I looked at Gabriel Jesus. I was reminded of his desire to be unpredictable and that we needed that. He is actually in his prime and so it wouldn’t be insane to keep him as a third choice. He seems to be a happiness player to me and so if he was trusted as a first choice striker somewhere then you would see the consistency that Arsenal hoped for but haven’t had for at least two years.
Vieira is technically good enough for Arsenal. He had two big issues that I don’t think are going to improve. Firstly, he would hide in games and not want the ball when he should be a playmaker. Secondly, there were so many other leagues that suit his physique better than the Premier League.
I hope Reiss Nelson finds a period in his career where he fulfills his potential. This has never happened for him and the talent is obvious. What a shame
I won’t be entirely shocked if one of our new signings leaves the club after one season.
Zubimendi could be first choice for Spain. If he is then I think he will have a hard time being second choice for Arsenal. He might be thinking about this with the emergence of MLS and certainly if we sign another top midfielder for what looks like close to 100 million, then he would likely and rightly be concerned.
They might look at Madueke and think that he’s never going to be any better than a big fat question mark as to whether he is going impact the game or not.
I can’t see VG leaving unless we sign somebody like Alvarez, which could see Viktor become third choice and potentially ask for a move at the end of the transfer window.
I think Mosquera played enough to satisfy him, and with our team and coaching staff proven to improve players and defenders in particular, I think he would be mad to take up an offer to be first choice somewhere else when he has 15 more years left.
I’d imagine Kepa will leave. Even though he had a rough cup final it will be hard to find somebody as reliable for second choice.
I believe Kiwior has gone to Porto. Good for him as he is most certainly a Champions League level player.
Eze isn’t going anywhere even though sometimes I can see Mikel ripping his hair out as you can see that he wants more from him, more consistently. His ceiling is arguably higher than most anybody at Arsenal and so you persist and you coach. You tell him that one day he could be one of the world‘s best and that could come sooner than he realizes if he wants to push for it. You look at his companion at Palace, Olise and how he is now considered in this category, and if I was Arteta, I would tell him this exact thing.
Please don’t sell Ethan Nwaneri. Arsenal need a technical attacking midfielder and he is it. Trust him to be that player that we lacked last season or let him go to a Premier League club where he will play. If you sell him, then you are risking what could be a big mistake as he could comfortably become an England regular in the midterm.
Leave Rice at six:
There might be games when Rice would do better playing as the left eight but he’s not providing anywhere near enough assists or goals to justify sacrificing his best role.
Try strong side wingers:
If it were me, this would be the big change.
This does not have to happen every game and it does not need to happen for a whole game.
Play Saka, Madueke and Dowman on the left and Trossard and the new signing on the right.
Why??
There are a few reasons.
- One of the biggest improvements in football is the defenders ability to repeatedly block shots and frustrate. Football evolves as it has to. The time should’ve already come, but in my opinion will come soon, when coaches will go back to playing strong sided wingers. If you cut in to shoot, then you are relying on scoring worldies. If you go on the outside, then we finally have players crossing with their favourite foot. This is just not talked about and it’s a real issue. Even for the players like Trossard, who are too footed, you are always more accurate with your strong foot.
- If you go on your strong foot on the outside of the defender and cut in then there is a higher risk of the defender giving away a penalty kick.
- If you attack the full back earlier, you give yourself a lot more room to have a shooting angle. A back post shot if parried by the goalkeeper, is a tap-in at the back post.
- Gyokeres in particular, is better with his feet than his head. When we have inverted wingers, they are more often than not crossing the ball in the air. Regardless of coaching preference, you have to play to the strength of your number nine and he wants balls fizzed across the ground rather than in the air. Havertz might feel the opposite to be fair.
- The biggest reason to attack your full back on the outside and on your strong foot, is that their supporting defender will stop supporting the full back because he is of no help if you don’t cut inside.The trend of having 1 v 2 on the wing has only evolved because of inverted wingers.
Save your best 11 for the tricky games:
This should be called the ‘Norgaard effect.’
Half of the games during the Premier League season will be very winnable without our first 11. As an example, last season when we played Crystal Palace at home, if we would have played our best nine players available plus Norgaard and Ben White then you’re not thinking that we are going to lose.
Arteta has to be braver in this regard. Don’t take too long to pick the team. Write down your bullet points as to what is important to you when you pick your team and then park it. Don’t stare at it and get nervous because Declan Rice is going to sit on the bench five times during the season. Remember… His legs are gonna fall off if you don’t.
All this will likely happen anyway, as we are one of the only teams in football whose bench is almost as good as those on the field.
Using the crowd’s energy:
Can you imagine the energy for the first time game of the season?
Our fanbase is going to have a mixture of excitement, energy for the first game and huge appreciation for the team. If we start home games slowly, then that energy won’t last and frustration will creep back in.
Beyond the three teams that have been promoted, I cannot think of another team that will have the same energy in their crowd. Arteta is big on the soft factors and finding every last edge and this is one of them. It cannot be denied.
Run them to the 6 yard box:
We need to have two players attacking the 6 yard box when we face a low block. When you have one player, then one or two of the defenders can stay outside the 6 yard box for the cut back. When you have two then normally all four defenders will protect that area leaving the cut back available. Our team doesn’t have a laziness problem, but almost every other team has standard issues and that we don’t and their midfielders don’t track with the same enthusiasm.
Vacations:
After playing 50 something games last season and the season before and over 60 this season, our best players, who are also at the World Cup, will all have their legs fall next season and when their legs do fall off, they might all fall off at the same time. They don’t all have to have an extended vacation at the same time, but perhaps a new trend in the modern game needs to be giving one or two players who are in the red zone a week off at a time. We have to do something different in this regard. Every season seems to be hopping from 2–4 players out, and as soon as they come back, there are another 2–4 out.
Two different centre back partnerships:
Central defence is the one area where a partnership is pivotal. We all know who our first choice partnership is, but when we rest Saliba, we need to rest Gabriel, also. Firstly, because resting these two is never a bad idea *legs falling off. Secondly, Mosquera if he was partnered let’s say with Hincapie for these opportunities, would likely form an understanding that would benefit the team rather than always partnering somebody different.
Chuck the League Cup:
We say this every year. We play our second team primarily, but then get tempted to throw in William Saliba. The League Cup needs to either be scrapped or Arsenal need to be stricter with themselves. If we have a handful of injuries, Saliba doesn’t play but an academy center back does. If we go out, then we go out. It’s not something we needed to be pursuing anyway. Not now. Happily.
Ball in:
One of the most enlightening games you can play at training is a game that I call ‘ ball in.’ Don’t ask why because it’s not important and the story is beyond silly.
Essentially, it is a match of six v six. The goals are full size and there are at least three teams. One team sits out and it is first goal wins. A fast paced game that gets very intense because of the first goal win scenario. Your goalkeeper is fully engaged and gets lots of practice. Your defenders get loads of shots to practice blocking and your attackers have constant chances to score because the field is only 25 yards long..
If I was coaching Arsenal, I would play this game as a two touch game and one touch game.
As we endlessly circulate the ball around the top of the box during games, I so often wish that the players would value their first touch better. If their first touch would always set up a shot then they have the choice of taking it or not. If it is thoughtless they need an extra touch if they now want to shoot, This is where players are getting shot after shot blocked, which is very prevalent in the modern game.
Arsenal are also guilty of not having their body shape right inside the box. You play this game with just one touch and tell them that you cannot pass, dribble or trap the ball, but when the ball comes to you, you have to shoot no matter where you are positioned. This opens their eyes to the possibilities and they are amazed at how quickly they are able to get the ball on target from angles that they would never normally shoot, but only if their body shape is correct and they are thinking of this option. We all know that Arsenal are more guilty than most everybody else at overplaying and when you have a collection of the world‘s best players, they should be able to achieve techniques that are more difficult.
Finishing, finishing:
The games where Arsenal don’t have enough chances to win the game are super rare. Maybe even nonexistent. A memory that seems like a reoccurring bad dream is of Arsenal getting to the 70th minute and not having worked the goalkeeper.
We could show no improvement from this season and work solely on our finishing and win the league just off the back of improved finishing.
I have no proof of this, but I suspect that shooting and finishing are not practiced with any particular focus.
My two concerns are that finishing drills are not done in anything close to a realistic environment. Think about when you see professional players performing them. Is it ever with a crowded penalty area of eight defenders and four attackers? There is great value to unopposed shooting and finishing drills so that you can work on your technique without pressure, but both are valuable. The reason that players miss the target is because of adrenaline and pressure. You do not become a great possession team by playing against nobody.
My other concern is lack of repetition and accountability in shooting over the crossbar. You can run drills that are so super fun but have a reward or a punishment at the end. You don’t have to be harsh to the players. At best guess I would say that 50% of all shots at the professional level go over the crossbar. The players know how to keep it down, but the feeling of pressure and the lack of repetition in a pressurized situation is the reason why that statistic is so high.
Employee Mike McDonald:
This chap has got a brilliant idea.
I’m declaring a race. Who can be the lovely person that connects him with somebody at the club? I’d love you forever.
Part 3 tomorrow….. transfers ‘n such
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.
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