Inter Milan ended up finishing 4th, but they had been unbeaten following the appointment of Alberto Zaccharoni, and had crushed Arsenal 3-0 at Highbury on Match Day 1. They had played on the counter attack then, and as Thierry Henry said in his post match interview, Arsenal wanted to play on the counter against Inter on this occasion.

Arsenal lined up in their traditional 4-4-2, with Robert Pires cutting in more from the left hand side than Freddie Ljungberg did; with Theirry Henry playing exclusively on the left when Arsenal didn’t have the ball, there was no need for Pires to maraud up and down the left hand side, and with Ashley Cole going forward to provide width, Pires could get in to the box and join the front two. With the match being played in Italy, Dennis Bergkamp was unavailable, Kanu played up front, while Ray Parlour and Edu played as the central midfield pairing. For Inter, they set up in a 3-4-3, with Javier Zanetti and Jeremie Brechet playing as wing backs. With Cristiano Zanetti and Sabri Lamouchi in the midfield it was a quite functional midfield, lacking a number 10.

The game started off slowly and was very scrappy. A pitch that had been rained on for 3 days had cut up in the centre of the midfield, and Arsenal’s passing game in the middle wasn’t as good as it normally was, and wasn’t as good as it is today. The midfield was hampered by the loss of Patrick Vieira to injury, and without his influence, Arsenal’s play was more often directed to the width. The passing was very quick, with one touches adding to the pace of the counter attack, unlike today’s Arsenal where the build up is more deliberate. Inter Milan, without a playmaker, were very functional, and there play often consisted of long balls for the front men, Christian Vieri, Obafemi Martins and Andy van der Meyde. Early Martins had success running at balls over the top that were aimed at Pascal Cygan, and his pace caused Cygan and Cole problems throughout the whole match. Because of Martins threat, Cole didn’t get as forward as often, and Arsenal’s play was more focused on the right hand side, where Kolo Toure got forward often. Toure often didn’t have a direct opponent, with van der Meyde preferring to cut in on his right foot. When Cole did get forward, he made a brilliant partnership with Pires and Henry for the first goal. Zanetti on the right was overwhelmed by Pires, Cole and Henry all on the left, and he was prevented getting forward by those 3, leading to Inter not having width until Martins got involved.

The Inter goal was incredibly lucky, and although it deterred Arsenal until the end of the first half, they came out strong in the second. Just 3 minutes into the half saw Henry attacking down the left again, after a poor touch from Vieri under pressure gave the ball away. Ljungberg had taken up a central role, and was unmarked and tapped in when Henry squared. 2-1 to Arsenal, and they could sit deeper and hit Inter on the counter attack. Sitting deeper suited Pascal Cygan and Sol Campbell, neither of whom are blessed with pace, and Inter didn’t threaten Arsenal too often. Arsenal did threaten Inter on the counter, and a superb solo run from Henry following a corner saw the third and sealing goal. 2 more goals were added, but they were the result of bad defending more than anything else as Inter couldn’t deal with the pace of Arsenal’s attack, and being down 3-1, left the back 3 exposed.

Inter Milan lost the game because they couldn’t deal with Thierry Henry and Arsenal’s left hand side. When Ashley Cole came forward, Javier Zanetti faced a 3 v 1 situation, and it’s no surprise that out of Arsenal’s 5 goals, the first 3 came from the left hand side. The decision to play 3-4-3, then, was a mistake, and played right into Arsenal’s hands as they could dominate the game with their wide players, Pires and Ljungberg, and Henry, who drifted to the left. Inter’s midfield was too functional to break down the Arsenal defence once it was 2-1, and Arsenal were very comfortable at 2-1 before Henry sealed the game with his second.

Vela was an instant hit in his first year at Arsenal; a hattrick against Sheffield United, a goal and assist against Wigan and a wonderful chip against Burnley were some of the highlights in his first season in England. He showed a range of skills, including pace, nutmegs, chips, but also, excellent movement. Playing with either Nicklas Bendtner or Eduardo, he would drop off the main striker, giving him space to perform the magical, and also meaning he wouldn’t go up against 6’3 centre halves, who would always win the ball in the air against him.

For all of Vela’s potential, the hardest problem for him seems to be, not only getting in the team, but displaying the physicality to stay in it. In 2008/09, Arsenal mainly played 4-4-2, and in his better games, Vela was partnered with Nicklas Bendtner, a striker who offers a more physical dimension, and allows Vela to run beyond him and beyond the defending line or find space in the wide areas. As mentioned on here before, his movement is very good, and so too is his finishing, but his final ball often lacks quality, though he has shown flashes of brilliance, with superb crosses for Eduardo against Cardiff and West Ham. With Arsenal moving to a 4-3-3 and Vela lacking the physicality to play as a lone striker, most likely he’ll have to play on the left of the forward 3. It’s not necessarily a bad thing for him to play there; Theo Walcott, Andrey Arshavin and Samir Nasri have all scored goals this season and last, and Vela could easily follow in their footsteps in that department. What differs Vela from the previous 3 though is his passing is not as good, and quite often his final ball lacks enough quality. One example is against West Brom, where, brought on to get the ball into the box, not one his attempted 8 passes made it into the penalty area. Nasri in a similar time frame had only 1, but he scored two goals, while Arshavin had 3 (and an assist), Rosicky had 5 and Wilshere had 3. All of the above players, except Wilshere, are competitors for a left wing spot, and all 3 are better passers of the ball. If Vela is to make it at Arsenal, his passing must improve, and that is why he has gone on loan to West Bromwich Albion. They play a similar 4-2-3-1 to Arsenal, they play the ball on the ground and they play a similar pressing style. If Vela does well at West Bromwich Albion, we may see him on the left for Arsenal where his pace would offer a different option to teams that pressure Arsenal in the midfield, and perhaps in the future, a move to a central role could occur. If he fails to play well at West Bromwich Albion, don’t be surprised to see Vela leave the club, especially if his main failings at WBA are physicality and inconsistency.

For Vela, the time to produce has come; whether he does or not is the question.

Ipswich set up in a similar system to the one they used a fortnight ago that saw them win 1-0; the only difference was that Grant Leadbitter, injured in the first leg, came into the side in a central midfield position, pushing David Norris to the right and Carlos Edwards to right back. Connor Wickham, impressive in the first leg, continued his left wing role. For Arsenal, Robin van Persie started, as did Andrey Arshavin and Cesc Fabregas.

Ipswich, as Paul Jewell said they would, played very defensive, with the midfielders dropping deep as well, creating a wall of 9 players for Arsenal to get by. The defenders were very narrow (perhaps helped on one side, the left, by Darren O’Dea, the left back, being a natural centre back). Arsenal, despite having a majority of possession at half time (74%), they only had 2 shots on target; the one clear chance they did have, when van Persie hit the bar, was after a cross from Bendtner on the right, who received possession from a Clichy diagonal. If Ipswich were to be broken down, they were not going to be broken down through the middle, and either width or from a defensive error would be the way Arsenal would score.

When Bendtner receives possession, there are 10 Ipswich players behind the ball. The left back has gone narrow, and the left winger, Wickham, has taken up a defensive position. It's hard to break down, as there banks of 5 and then 4.

The second half started no different from the first; Ipswich got men behind the ball, and Arsenal had trouble breaking them down.

Ipswich have pushed up after a long ball for Priskin. Despite pushing up, and having 6 players in or near the Arsenal half, Wilshere has no pressure on him, and has time to play the perfect diagonal pass

The right back, Edwards, has gone narrow to prevent Arsenal from playing through the middle, their preferred move. While that isn't a wrong move necessarily, it opens up lots of space for Bendtner when he receives possession. Bendtner can then cut in and shoot, which is a preferred move of his.

What Arsenal didn’t do, however, was panic and send players forward. They were always confident that they’d get at least one goal, and it eventually came. Ironically, it was a quick counter attack from Arsenal, after Ipswich pressed, and their defence and midfield pushed up. What they didn’t do, however, was put pressure on Wilshere, and he had all the time in the world to play a perfect pass to Bendtner, who controlled, beat the right back and then finished with aplomb. It was a superb goal, and just minutes later they were two up; Koscielny heading home from an Arshavin corner that he had won after putting pressure on the Ipswich defender.

Ipswich now had to change their game and come forward, and they had a couple of half chances. What they gave up by going forward though was defensive solidity and after going 4-4-2, Arsenal began to dominate the midfield. Passage through wasn’t sealed until a third goal, and it came after a superb counter attack; Denilson won the ball in the midfield, Ipswich had pushed up and had 6 players in the Arsenal half, and 3 simple passes later, Fabregas was scoring. It was a simple counter attack, and rounded off an excellent performance.

Arsenal showed good patience and good tactical discipline to maintain their shape despite Ipswich frustrating them. Finally, the goal came when Ipswich pushed out a bit, and Bendtner was able to find space on the right. 3-0 is perhaps harsh on Ipswich, as they defended extremely well for 150 minutes, but it was what the Arsenal performance deserved for their patience, and for their two excellent counter attacks.

Arsene Wenger doesn’t always make the right tactical decisions, but today he got his decisions right, as Arsenal moved back to second in the Premier League after goals from Alex Song, Cesc Fabregas and Theo Walcott.

Arsenal saw the return of Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie, but also, the introduction of Theo Walcott and Johan Djourou, two decisions that ended up to be spot on.

Walcott, more willing to do the defensive side of his game, and combined with his pace, Ashley Cole couldn’t get as forward as much as he usually does in matches between Arsenal and Chelsea. A look at his chalkboard (with a heatmap) comparing the return fixture earlier this year, shows as much:



http://www.guardianchalkboards.com/guardianchalkboards_embed.swf?chalkBoardID=2379o1N1yH913Q84YMVv by Guardian Chalkboards

The first half had a familiar pattern, as Chelsea stayed deep and narrow, willing to soak up the pressure and then hit Arsenal on the counter attack. Over the last few years, Cole has been an important outlet for Chelsea counter attacks on the left, but without him getting forward, they often lacked ideas going forward, with long balls to Drogba being the usual outlet. With Djourou in the side, Arsenal had a better aerial presence in the defence, and the two defenders, Djourou and Koscielny had excellent games, subduing Drogba, who lost against Arsenal for the first time in a Chelsea shirt. John Obi Mikel was very deep, and was often goalside of Cesc Fabregas, who tried to exploit the space created for him by van Persie’s false nine role, a combination that worked well at the beginning of last year. The goal finally came, with Song breaking forward to finish off the move. Song has been criticized for going forward, but tonight he got the balance right, winning all 6 of his tackles, while still getting forward enough to make an influence.

Arsenal’s pressing was more visible than it had been in previous matches this season, and, again, it was another good tactical decision made by Wenger, with Walcott saying

“We didn’t think about that at all. It was in the past. We were concentrating on the defensive of the game today. Everyone pressed. It was so good to see,” he told Sky Sports.

“Not just the starters, but the players who came on as well. They pressed and we didn’t give Chelsea space at all. We did that throughout the 90 minutes.

It was pressure caused by the energetic Walcott that got Arsenal the third goal as he robbed Malouda, and, with Arsenal squeezing the space, they caught Chelsea offside 7 times (Again, Djourou playing in place of Squillaci helped here. If Chelsea broke the offside trap, Djourou has enough pace to get back.)  They also won the ball back in promising positions; the first goal came as a direct result from this pressure, as Clichy won the ball back from Kalou, and was fouled, and then Arsenal passed the ball around before finding an opening.

by Guardian Chalkboards

At half time, Carlo Ancelotti brought Ramires on for Mikel, but this hindered Chelsea more than it helped. Ramires is better going forward than Mikel, but his introduction forced Essien into a deeper role, where he isn’t as productive, and Fabregas found himself in space more often in the second half, and was involved in both. Yes, they may have been defensive mistakes from Chelsea, but they were caused by Arsenal pressure, and for that, and for the introductions of Walcott and Djourou, Arsene Wenger outmanaged Carlo Ancelotti.

Arsenal thoroughly deserved to beat Chelsea; not only did they outplay them, and take their chances, but Ancelotti was outmanaged, and Chelsea struggled to create chances from open play, and looked sluggish, old and slow. It was a really poor performance from them, but take nothing away from an energetic and outstanding Arsenal performance.

Originally posted at The Short Fuse, thanks to them for republishing permission

(Average positions. Source: soccernet.com)

Major changes made from Saturday’s victory against Fulham were that Robin van Persie came in for Tomas Rosicky and Denilson for Jack Wilshere. The inclusion of Denilson was an interesting one: Denilson holds position better than Alex Song and defends better than Jack Wilshere, so his inclusion allowed Alex Song to get forward more often without exposing the defence to the extent they were last Saturday. Van Persie’s and Chamakh’s role was interesting too: last week, van Persie rotated among a fluid front four; Wednesday, with Nasri and Arshavin not natural front men, the movement was restricted to Chamakh and van Persie swapping positions, and the average position graph shows Chamakh actually being deeper than van Persie in a more defined 4-2-3-1.

Partizan set up defensively, with Cleo playing as a loan front man making runs to try and beat Arsenal’s high line. His movement was excellent, and he constantly received the ball in decent areas.

Defensively, Partizan were compact and made it hard for Arsenal to pass through them. It took an untracked run from midfield by Song to create the penalty win, but was one of few chances for Arsenal.

Second Half

With Arsenal only 1-0 up, Partizan always had a chance, and Cleo took his, albeit via a massive deflection after another defensive miscue from Koscielny who was too eager to intercept. Arsenal put the pressure on, but they couldn’t break through Partizan, who were happy with a point. Arsenal needed a change, and the introduction of Theo Walcott brought pace and forced Partizan to defend deeper. It was an error that allowed Walcott to finish magnificently, but his pace forced Partizan to defend deeper, and Song took advantage to combine with Bendtner and Nasri to finish the game off.

Midfield

Van Persie was playing in a somewhat unfamiliar role behind Chamakh and he never really linked up with the Moroccan striker. Again, as it did against Wigan, the midfield looked unbalanced, with van Persie dropping deep as Fabregas does, but lacking the cutting edge passing that the captain provides. Because he isn’t a midfielder he always wanted to push forward, and with 2 defensive midfielders in the side, the midfield looked top-heavy. He linked up better with Bendtner, but maybe the only way van Persie and Chamakh can play together is either with van Persie on the right cutting in or in a 4-4-2. As seen below, van Persie never created a clear cut chance with his passing, which is different to the players who usually play in the playmaking role.

Conclusion

A poor and one dimensional performance from Arsenal for the first 65 minutes, but the introduction 0f Theo Walcott gave the game needed pace and forced Partizan to drop deeper and lose their compactness, and allowed Arsenal to finally break through. Does Walcott deserve to start against United? Maybe, but if the game doesn’t play into his hands, and if he’s denied space, he can be anonymous, which would be different if he’s used as an impact sub where his pace forces tired defenders to drop deep.

Thanks to TotalFootball 2010 app for the iPod/iPhone

Arsenal and Fulham both showed how pressing can be used on Saturday as Arsenal came out 2-1 Victors.

Arsenal started the first 15 minutes at a frantic pace, pressing Fulham high up the pitch and forcing Fulham to make mistakes. Arshavin and Nasri had chances before Nasri scored a wonderful goal after a mistake from Aaron Hughes let Arshavin in, and the Russian passed for Nasri. Arsenal continued to press and could’ve and perhaps should’ve been up by more than one goal. The first 25 minutes though, was one of Arsenal’s best attacking performances so far this year, with 5 shots and several balls into the box. Defensively, it was another story.

Fulham Press back

Fulham, though, pressed back. Mark Hughes had said that they’d attack Arsenal’s weaknesses, almost certainly meaning they’d go direct, and they did not disappoint. They started pressing Arsenal back in the midfield, and hitting long balls for Kamara to run off of. Arsenal, because of there own pressure, were playing an extremely high line, and Kamara was offside several times, all of them close. It was, admittedly, a defensive error that allowed Kamara to score, but he was again on the shoulder of the defender and this time he was played onside. He could’ve scored again, as Arsenal, after Koscielny went off, still played a high line, with a simple ball leaving them exposed. There is though, another issue, which is the role of Alex Song. Arsenal, playing a 4-2-3-1, have a midfield of 2-1, with a destroyer (Song), passer (Wilshere) and creator (Fabregas, or today Rosicky and then van Persie). Song though has pushed forward, and it seems Arsenal have 2 box to box midfielders and no destroyer/holder. That seems a tactical plan from Wenger though:

“The teams close us down so much high up because they know we play through the middle,” said the manager. “I push my midfielders a bit up at the start to give us more room to build up the game.

“When you come to the ball we are always under pressure, so Song is a bit naturally high up because I want him high up.

That may work when Arsenal are pressing, but if they lose the ball, they become much more susceptible to balls over the top, as the defence has to push up to close the gap between midfield and defence. It’s what cost Arsenal against Fulham, it’s what also cost them against Tottenham Hotspur, and several times last year.

Second Half

Arsenal were pushing for the go-ahead goal, again pressing Fulham. Djourou replaced the injured Koscielny, and Song pushed back, better protecting the defence, dealing with the long ball threat. Fulham, though, had chances from corners, and perhaps Etuhu should’ve scored. van Persie and Walcott came on for Rosicky and Wilshere, pushing Nasri into the midfield and van Persie behind Chamakh, a role he played in against Wigan. Those two combined, with Nasri coming deep from midfield to score his second wonderful goal, giving Arsenal the lead (Chalkboard shown, showing Nasri in central position). Fulham pushed back, putting Arsenal under pressure with a direct aerial threat, but Arsenal defended well, with Djourou particularly impressing, winning all 6 aerial challenges.

Conclusion

The better team won today, in a match that showed the importance of pressing. The team that pressed was on top at that moment of the game, and Arsenal, with their greater quality, won the game, but for them, the role of Alex Song should be changed to not leave the defence exposed. Positively, Nasri was superb, and the pushing of him into central midfield, to get him the ball more often, was a good move by Wenger.

With Cesc Fabregas out, and with Arsenal playing 2 games a week, resulting in Samir Nasri, Andrey Arshavin and Tomas Rosicky being rested, the role that Fabregas has been playing, behind the striker in a 4-2-3-1, was open. That role was filled by Van Persie, who has played off the striker for Arsenal and Holland. Last year, Van Persie played as a false 9, so his link up play is very good. However, because he is a striker, Arsenal at times looked like they were playing a 4-2-4, which is something that occurred last year, when Cesc Fabregas was pushed higher up behind Nicklas Bendtner.

Wigan, lining up in their traditional 4-2-3-1 did not threaten Arsenal that much; on the break, they were poor, with their attacks easily broken up by Johan Djourou and Laurent Koscielny. They certainly didn’t threaten the Arsenal defence, exposed by the top-heaviness of the team, and they were relatively easy to play through. Only poor finishing prevented Arsenal from winning by a higher margin.

Front Rotation

One characteristic of the front four that played yesterday is that they all have excellent movement, and yesterday rotated between the front four positions superbly. One of the moves of the first half, when van Persie played Vela in, came when the Mexican took up the front role as Bendtner drifted wide. Walcott, who had been taking up front positions against Newcastle and Shakhtar, tended to stay closer to the flanks today, but Vela, van Persie and Bendtner all shifted, with Vela having a fairly good game when he played behind the front man, with 2 fantastic passes. Indeed, it was Vela who laid on the final ball for Bendtner to finish the second goal, after a quick break from Wilshere, who found van Persie in space, who linked up well with Vela.

One interesting thing to note was although van Persie dropped deep to protect the midfield, there was not the usual midfield rotation that we see, and thus Denilson and Wilshere were not able to get forward as much as they usually do.

Conclusion

All in all, a comfortable result for Arsenal, who must be fancying there chances to end their 5 year trophy drought. Perhaps more importantly though, this match saw the return of Robin van Persie, and also saw he could play in the role behind the front man, and link up with Chamakh, Nasri and Arshavin if Cesc Fabregas is to be unavailable. With important matches coming up against Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City, this might be the best result of this match.

Arsenal lined up as expected, with Samir Nasri coming in for Tomas Rosicky, and Arsenal played 4-2-3-1. So did Everton, in a 4-4-1-1 with Johnny Heitinga coming in for the suspended Mauroane Fellaini.

Everton started brightly, pressing high up the pitch and unsettling Arsenal, who weren’t allowed to play their preferred quick passing. Everton, though, were defending deep, allowing space between the midfield and defence when pressing. A one-two between Song and Nasri exploited that space and although Everton had a quick counter attack, Arsenal started to settle and dictate play.

Everton’s Left

Most of Arsenal’s play was down their right hand side, to an almost unprecedented amount. Arsenal usually don’t target a specific area, but today they did. Unlike Everton’s right, where Seamus Coleman, a right back by trade, giving defensive cover for Phil Neville, on the left, with Steven Pienaar moving in towards the middle, and Leighton Baines going forward provding width, Everton are vulnerable in that area, as Luke Young showed earlier this year. Some of Arsenal’s best moves were down the right, and Sagna was allowed to get forward without opposition to score Arsenal’s first. Perhaps the best chance of the match, Chamakh’s glaring miss in the 60th minute, came from good combination play between Nasri and Fabregas before Fabregas put in an excellent cross for Chamakh.

Everton Switch to 4-3-3

David Moyes brought on Yakubu and Beckford and switched to a 4-3-3, with Coleman and Baines getting forward and Cahill also getting forward to support the strikers. Everton went a lot more direct, and Arsenal had problems dealing with it, though they eventually did, but Fabianski also made several fantastic saves. This also coincided with Arsenal having problems giving the ball away: Fabregas and Denilson were almost uncharacteristic in giving the ball away, and Everton were pushing forward. In the end, Arsenal held out, and deserved all 3 points.

by Guardian Chalkboards

The chalkboard above shows two different styles of play from Wolves. Home to City, where the impetus was to score, they bypassed the middle, where City had the two defensive midfielders, Toure and Barry. Instead, they played with incredible width, with the full backs, Ward and Foley getting forward a lot, as City’s two wide players, Milner and Silva, playing as inverted wingers, drifted into the middle. They were successful from the wide areas as well, creating several chances, with both goals coming from crosses. Against United, they were more compact in the midfield, as they tried to prevent United from scoring; also, it must be noted, the two wide United players, Evra and Park are much more responsible defensively than Silva and Milner, with Evra being a left back by trade. For Wolves, this style almost worked, as United, despite dominating possession for most of the second half found it hard to break Wolves down.

For Arsenal with their known weaknesses in defence, it seems like Wolves will go for the approach they used against Manchester City, while remaining compact when they don’t have the ball. It will be tough for Arsenal to break Wolves down, and they must take their chances and score the first goal. Alex Song will have to rein in his attacking instincts, as Wolves have the pacey players who can catch Arsenal on the break. And with the obvious defensive deficiency of Andrey Arshavin, perhaps Emmanuel Eboue should start on the right, with Samir Nasri on the left. Also, Arsenal must play with width; that doesn’t mean they have to cross it in the air for Chamakh every time, but playing through the middle is easy to defend against if you remain compact like Wolves, and requires a moment of magic to break down, something which has been lacking with Arsenal’s play over the last week.

It will be a tough game, but Arsenal have the quality players that should be able to break Wolves down.