By Vinay Shankar (Tactical Analyst)
A comfortable canter in the second half, rather than the visible drop-off in the last few matches that has seen them drop points. Saka’s injury disrupted the rhythm, but the second half brought out a different team.
Tomiyasu continuing in the lineup was the biggest surprise, but playing Tierney every 3 days hasn’t worked well in the past and during the craziest month of the season, a massive gamble.
Forest set up in a 4-3-3 with midfielders rather than wingers but the visitors hardly applied much pressure on the ball and tried to play a deep block. The last few games have seen Arsenal struggle in the buildup with possession not translating into much else and a lack of intensity without the ball made the struggles even more prominent.
A home game always seems to increase the tempo of the game and the crispness of the passing, movement, and switching of the direction of the attack were all on point from the start. These were absent at Eindhoven and coming off second-best in duels was punished clinically.
In the current 4-3-3 with Xhaka pushing up and Odegaard marked closely, the back four and Partey had very few passing options ahead of them and struggled to break teams down. Both the attacking 8s drifting to the flanks left Jesus isolated centrally. The sub-optimal holdup in tight areas from Jesus and Nketiah further made for very lackluster displays.
fter Saka’s injury, the first half was more of the same in terms of lack of chance creation with Partey seeing a lot of the ball in central areas as a result of being unmarked but the Ghanaian didn’t end up punishing the away side. In the second half, he was a lot more aggressive and incisive with his passing and this instantly elevated the attacking threat.
Reiss Nelson finally looks to have taken his chance after his loan at Feyenoord in what looks to be the academy graduate’s last chance at the club. He has struggled to replicate his youth potential in the senior setup and has often looked indecisive or safe in his previous appearances. There didn’t seem to be much of a change when he came in the first half but gradually settled into the game and the goals got the confidence flowing.
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