Thanks to Mikel Arteta’s tactics, Arsenal have made an impressive start to their 2022-23 season. The Gunners have won 5 of their 6 league games, and got a 2-1 win in their Europa League clash against FC Zurich. Their lone defeat came at the hands of Manchester United at Old Trafford.Arsenal dominated 60% of the ball but ended up conceding two goals in transitions in the second half. In particular, the defensive high line was caught out, allowing Marcus Rashford to score a brace.
Unsurprisingly, the approach came under a lot of criticism after the game. However, is the general scepticism around using a high line slightly misplaced? Is pushing the centre-backs into more advanced roles inherently counterproductive? Or is it a risky strategy that Arsenal just got wrong in this crucial game?
If we look at the statistics last season, we notice that Arsenal averaged the third-highest defensive line height.
2. Average defensive line height of a Premier League team is 44.2 meters. Graph shows how far from own goal (in meters) PL teams registered their defensive action pic.twitter.com/3XWjooXBg9
— markstats (@markrstats) June 12, 2022
The two teams that did defend higher up the field than the Gunners were Liverpool and Manchester City. Interestingly, the same two teams competed for the league title till the final matchday. Additionally, Norwich and Watford, two teams that ended up getting relegated, averaged among the lowest defensive line heights.
While playing with a higher line of defence by itself does not guarantee success, it is evidently a popular trend among some of the very best teams. And the reason for this directly correlates to how they like to play on the ball.
Both Manchester City and Liverpool averaged the highest possession among all Premier League teams. Arsenal ranked fifth in this metric. And obviously, teams with more possession than the opponents, spend less time defending the ball. This is due to two factors:
1. Teams maximize the time they spend on the ball, as we see with Manchester City and Pep Guardiola.
2. Teams looking to minimize the time they spend off the ball, by aggressively pushing to recover it once it’s lost. This approach is more often linked to Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool.
Both Manchester City and Liverpool are highly efficient at pressing to regain possession quickly after its concession. And a high line of defence is the first step to facilitating this approach.
By executing a high line, the team essentially cuts the playing field by half. This means that the opponent has only a limited playing surface to build from the back.
Opponents cannot rely on their forwards receiving the ball behind the defensive line in such set-ups, as they would be offside. Instead, they would try to play their forwards on the line of the defender’s shoulders, trying to run in behind.
When teams try to access their forwards from such positions, they can usually be cut off in the air by defenders. Most centre-backs are comfortable contesting for duels with their back to their own goal. Both of Arsenal’s preferred centre-backs last season, Ben White and Gabriel, are adept in the air.
However, Arsenal employ an even more effective tactic to prevent teams from exploiting the space behind their defenders: an aggressive counter-press.
As soon as possession is conceded, the Gunners try to quickly press and regain the ball, or at the very least, cut off passes forwards.
This press usually takes the shape of a 4-4-2 under Arteta. This has been a very effective implementation to suffocate the opposition in the build-up.
The aspect that Arsenal struggle with, more evidently so against Manchester United, is the defensive transitions.
To execute a proper transition once possession is conceded, the players have to be in optimal positions for counter-pressing, while the opponent team is still on the ball itself.
Pep Guardiola has explained that this was a key factor to him inverting his full-backs.
https://twitter.com/The_Architetto/status/1568242354183892992?s=20&t=yM1Ad87zXqUArSg8wBFCIg
Arsenal too, demonstrate a similar function when in possession. This season, Ben White from the right-back position has remained deeper during the attacks.
In the left-back slot, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Granit Xhaka offer more flexibility. When the Ukrainian moves up, Xhaka covers the space abandoned by remaining deeper. However, the Swiss midfielder himself has got a lot more attacking freedom this season.
Ahead of them, Arsenal have a 2-3 structure with three forwards and two advanced midfielders.
However, against Manchester United, the Gunners suffered by offering too much space between the lines. This was a by-product of two factors:
- The front five not pressing aggressively enough to cut passing lanes to the United forwards
- The back five not being compact enough to cover spaces effectively.
The Gunners displayed a combination of these issues for all the goals conceded.
Minute 35:
Poor defending allows Jadon Sancho to pick up a loose ball, immediately creating a 3v3. Arsenal’s second line of defence is caught too far up. This move concluded with Antony providing a smart finish to send the Red Devils 1-0 up.
Minute 66:
Manchester United responded to Bukayo Saka’s equalizer within 6 minutes with a Rashford goal.
Yet again, Christian Eriksen is afforded too much space as Martin Odegaard is slow to pounce. The pass to Bruno Fernandes took out 5 players, while Albert Sambi Lokonga was too far out to react to the danger. On the edge of the screen, Marcus Rashford is on Ben White’s shoulder.
Bruno Fernandes is again given a lot of space, and he is able to expertly pick out Rashford. The Englishman outpaced White and dodged William Saliba, before providing a smart finish.
Minute 75
Pushing hard for a second equalizer, the Gunners conceded yet another goal in transition.
8 of Arsenal’s 10 outfield players are on the left flank. The pass to Eriksen created a 2v1 for United, allowing Rashford a routine tap-in.
See More:
- €20m Rated Arsenal Defender has Joined Spanish Giants on a Free Transfer After Termination of Contract
- The Gunners Start Their Europa League Campaign With a Win | Three Things We Learnt From the Arsenal-Zurich Game
- Arsenal Humbled by the Red Devils at Old Trafford | Three Crucial Lessons Learnt From the United-Arsenal Fixture
Verdict
Arsenal’s structure resembles that of some of the very best teams in the world. The Gunners have also largely benefited from their bold approach this season. However, the tactics are not perfect yet, and still need to be operated on; by both Arteta and the players. A high line of defence represents a high-risk, high-reward approach, and Arteta must iron out the flaws in his team as soon as possible.
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