By Harvey Gration
Two contrasting halves in a 1-1 draw with Nurnberg, a cruise-control 5-0 victory against the MLS All-Stars, and an unexpected 2-0 loss at the hands of Manchester United. A mixed bag to say the least. Nonetheless, as we are in pre-season, I prefer to look at patterns as opposed to results; the former points to Mikel Arteta’s experimentation, and efforts to make us as unpredictable as possible next season.
What do I mean? Well, although our shape largely stays the same, the rotations of players within it come as part of a plan to make Arsenal a comfortable side in uncomfortable situations.
My Name is Harvey Gration, and thank you for clicking on my second WLYA article- I hope you enjoy.
Last season, Arteta evolved Arsenal into a new stage of tactical refinement, but he is looking to take things one step further. Which full back will invert into midfield? Which 8 will drop deeper? How can we tweak our 4-3-3 which transitions into a 3-2-5 in settled possession? Can we ‘go long’ over an aggressive man-marking press now? With all this to come, let’s embark on Arteta’s attempts to make us impossible to prepare for…
1. Inverted fullbacks
Last season Zinchenko inverted from LB into the midfield pivot alongside Thomas Partey. The Ukrainian played a fundamental role in our build-up from deep possession, right into the last third. He became integral in Arteta’s attempts to gain control, with his press resistance, sense of timelessness on the ball, and progressive capabilities. But in the final two games of the season, this changed.
Zinchenko’s injury saw Arteta flip our dynamics to the RHS, inverting Partey from RB into midfield. It was evident Arteta wants us to be adaptable game-by-game, overloading either side he sees fit. However, appealing as this symmetry was, the Spaniard wanted more…
Bring on the 2023-24 pre-season, where Jakub Kiwior inverted into midfield against Nurnberg and the MLS All-Stars. On paper, this was surprising. Although technically gifted, the Pole’s frame doesn’t provide natural agility or press resistance to manipulate the ball against a press, and at times he looked uncomfortable when receiving facing our own goal.
However, this is NOT what we should focus on. Although Kiwior will not start in games against more technical or physical sides where control is harder to gain/maintain, his suitability inverting against lower blocks gives Arsenal something new. We are suddenly not reliant on Zinchenko alone to invert from the left; and with Kiwior’s ability to play LCB in our back 3 axis in possession, we can also invert from the right whilst he is on the pitch.
This is where Jurrien Timber comes in. If you have read my article on our new Dutchman (which predicts his inversion from RB into midfield), hopefully you are just as excited as everyone here at WLYA. Subsequently, Arteta can line up with a combination of one of Zinchenko/Kiwior, and one of Timber/Partey (and probably all four at the same time if he wants!), allowing us to flip mid-game, instead of solely game-by-game.
How does an opposition press deal with these overloads? Their ball-side fullback must be cautious pushing on, as they could suddenly find their man inverted and an overload on the opposite flank. Then there is the question of dealing with such adept inverted fullbacks? These team dynamics take time to bed-in, but they are not the only ones we need to let cohere…
2. The Deep-Lying 8
As aforementioned, our LHS 8 last season, one Granit Xhaka, was forced to retreat in initial build up against difficult opposition when Zinchenko couldn’t stay inverted. The Swiss was vital in wrestling back control, someone able to make a number of passes in the 1st/2nd phases- you may see where I am going here…
Almost all top teams deploy this all-phase central midfielder, typically on the left. For Manchester City, Ilkay Gundogan, for Barcelona, Frenkie De Jong/Pedri. Mason Mount has also been bought to be coached into this role under Eric Ten Hag.
Throughout our first 3 pre-season matches though, Kai Havertz has been our left interior. What’s more the German has started with a much higher set-point to Xhaka, positioning himself between-the-lines instantly. Havertz is not the type of player to drift deeper to get touches on the ball, so it has been frustrating that people have seen him as a solution for the traditional left 8 role in our system. Even when he plays in this channel, the German is far too advanced to be a ‘left 8’.
Whether Havertz plays here (more likely against weaker opposition) or a left 10/SS, or a CF, we will begin to see why he was bought for Arsenal. Havertz is at his best when he is allowed to attack the box from deep, play between the lines, and create/move into space. Think a Raumdeuter-type free role, and this was the role he played against the MLS All-Stars in the 2nd half, alongside a tweak to our system…
Odegaard was the 8 to drop this time, with Havertz encouraged to drift into central areas, the RHS half-space, and beyond our mobile strike force. This formed a sort of lop-sided box shape, with Rice naturally higher in the pivot which suits him, and Timber slightly deeper. This was not a diamond though, as Rice was ultimately still deep-lying, and we often formed the box shape in settled possession as well.
So even though we shouldn’t see Havertz in the left interior role often, Odegaard being able to drop deeper gives us the option of again changing dynamics and playing a more aggressive LHS 10.
Odegaard certainly has this deeper/all-phase role within him, but for the large part I expect us to stay with the LHS 8 dropping deeper when required. But Arteta is making the players comfortable playing the same system with fluid individual roles; hence the term in the title, fluid rigidity.
Just as a side note, we can translate this to Gabriel’s trial at CCB in our back 3 axis against Manchester United. William Saliba is our stalwart here, and it is clear Gabriel doesn’t yet have his presence to command a back line. Whether that is running back in transition, disguising a pass, driving past players, or just that composure Gabriel lacked when he hashed his clearance and allowed Sancho to run in behind.Tomiyasu is probably the only other member of our squad capable of deputising (maybe Declan Rice?), possessing that same bolt-up right, powerful, but elegant frame.
Again, Arteta is figuring out who can be called upon for mid-game solutions, quick fixes in crucial moments. Fine margins matter.
3. How to ‘get out’
Brighton at Home. Man City Away. Ring any bells? Well, these are two examples of sides that used a press that man-marked us in the build-up, making it extremely difficult to ‘get out’. Often, this means a side will opt to play long, and as the level of coaching continues to increase in the Premier League, managers have had to play direct at times…
Haaland, Gakpo, Ferguson, Toney, and Man United’s target Rasmus Hojlund. All are physical CF’s, able to win duels, run in behind, and retain the ball to a basic standard to secure play instantly in higher areas.
Arsenal have just signed a 6ft 4 German (not to go back to him), and irrespective of where he has started games for us, Arteta has used Havertz as an out-ball. We already have the dynamic runners off him, and the direct option makes Arsenal even more of a pain for opposition managers to set a press against.
That is the goal then, and although results this pre-season have been slightly disappointing (and I expect most of the experimentation to end now), Arteta is trying to prevent us from becoming ‘stuck’. I vividly remember that fretful day in Manchester this April, as Pep suddenly changed his entre build-up system and left us in no man’s land defending the next-in-line European Champions. Arteta is barking up the same tree.
We have the foundations laid, do not fret, but I am intrigued as to how Mikel goes about the rest of pre-season.
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