Arsenal foiled by Wigan’s tactical masterclass

350 comments April 17th, 2012

I’m not hugely excited by tactical discussion.  I don’t do chalkboards, and I haven’t got a giant iPad to play with.  Generally, I’m off the belief that quality and desire will override formations and other such minor details.  Well, consider this the day that Gunnerblog grew up.  It’s time to talk tactics.

The catalyst to this was a quite remarkable display by Wigan at the Emirates last night.  Having seen them robbed at Chelsea and victorious against Man United, we knew they’d fancy their chances.  We knew, too, that we’d have to be on our guard.  What I personally didn’t realise was quite how intelligent a foe we’d be facing.

The formation Wigan deployed last night was probably the most innovative I’ve ever seen in the Premier League – although within that I’m discounting Ossie Ardiles’ midfield-less monstrosity.  It could probably best be described as a 3-4-3.  Three narrow centre-backs, all of whom were given license to drift wide to cover if needs me.  One of those centre-backs, Gary (or maybe Stephen, I’m never sure) Caldwell was given license to step up in to midfield when Wigan had possession, without ever really straying over the halfway line.  The four in front all sat deep.  The wingers in particular were almost auxiliary full-backs.  Ahead of them, Franco Di Santo played as a central target man, with Jordi Gomez drifting mischievously infield from the right.  Victor Moses, meanwhile, dutifully patrolled Wigan’s left flank.

It’s a system they’ve used regularly recently, but it’s the first time I’d seen it in the flesh.  They’ve shown that they do their homework and modified it, too.  Against Man United, they man-marked Ferdinand and Evans on throw-ins, so United couldn’t throw the ball back and start again, as is their wont.   Against us, Victor Moses (who had played on the right at Stamford Bridge), switched over to the left.  Wigan realised the majority of our attacks come down the right, where we generally look for an overlap from one of Walcott or Sagna.  We even aim all our goal-kicks out to Sagna and look for the flick on for Theo’s pace in behind.  However, with Moses dropping back, Beausejour deep, and Figueroa coming across, our men generally found themselves outnumbered.  It was subsequently the quietest game Theo’s had in months.

With the main point of our attack smothered, we looked bereft of ideas.  Although we’re known as a fluid footballing side, in recent months our attacking strategy has been built on quite a simple principle of exerting pressure high up the pitch and looking for an overlap outside or dart inside a full-back.  This has disguised and compensated for the fact that since the departure of Cesc Fabregas and injury to Jack Wilshere, we don’t have an incisive number ten who can find a pass through the centre – discounting, of course, the odd moment of genius from Alex Song.  Losing Arteta to injury early on didn’t help, but by 70 minutes we looked as if we simply didn’t know where to go.

Of course, we didn’t help ourselves.  Conceding two goals in two minutes was cretinous, and being down to ten men due to Arteta’s absence is no excuse for the chaos that we permitted to unfold.  When Thomas Vermaelen got a goal back with that excellent header, there was a long way to go and you fancied us to grab at least a point.

For us to do that, Arsene had to change the shape.  I know that Marouane Chamakh has been poor this season, but introducing him would have immediately given us an extra presence in the box and the option to play a longer diagonal ball.  As it was, Robin found himself crowded out by three-centre backs as we tried to thread a ball through a blue-and-white wall.  Instead, Le Boss stuck to his guns, and they misfired.

We weren’t even able to build up any sort of momentum, because Wigan’s players showed bravery and technique to keep the ball expertly.  You won’t find many sides at the wrong end of the table willing to keep the ball on the ground and knock it around in the way they did last night.

Wigan’s recent form suggest they should have been clear of the relegation zone long before now.  Noises from inside the club have suggested that Martinez’s tactics were too perhaps too sophisticed for some of his players.  It seems as if he is finally getting the message across.  Hats off: I was mightily impressed.

Arsenal, meanwhile, have missed a massive opportunity.  The game against Chelsea takes on even bigger significance now – we need to bounce back all over again.

Wigan 0 – 4 Arsenal: Vermaelen is a defender with a poacher’s instinct

101 comments December 5th, 2011

Gervinho celebrates

Gervinho celebrates his third Arsenal goal

Wigan 0 – 4 Arsenal

Match Report | Highlights | Arsene’s reaction

Arsenal are finally sharing the goals around…
Although Robin van Persie did grab his expected goal, he was joined by three other less familiar names on the scoresheet.  Gervinho, Arteta and Vermaelen are all players capable of lessening the burden on the Dutchman, and it’s fantastic to see them finally beginning to do so.  One only wishes that Park and Chamakh were capable of doing the same.

Thomas Vermaelen has a poacher’s instinct…
It’s remarkable that one of the players we’re looking at to take up some of the goalscoring burden is a centre-back.  But then, Thomas Vermaelen is a remarkable footballer.  Over his entire Arsenal career to date, he has a strike rate of almost a goal every four games.  One need only see that when Arteta’s long-range strike hits the net, it is the Belgian who is following up in case of any rebound.  The man simply loves a goal.  As Arsene commented after the game, “I still don’t know if he came to replace Toure or Adebayor”.

Gervinho’s goal was much more than a tap-in…
Admittedly, it was a simply finish – and one which the erratic Ivorian almost miscued – but in some respects this was a spectacular goal.  Excluding Ali Al-Habsi’s parry on Robin van Persie’s shot, this was a move that included a mammoth 33 passes.  Take a look:


WigvArs 33 passes by Vineeta_Nair

Admittedly, Wigan’s defending is poor, but our use of the ball is as good here as it has been all season. Promising indeed.

Theo Walcott is becoming a true team player…
His unselfish square for Van Persie spoke volumes, as did his obvious delight at getting an assist.  Walcott’s good form has been one of the highlights of our season thus far, and one only hopes he and Van Persie can remain fit enough for their fruitful relationship to continue.  Walcott has now assisted 11 goals for RVP – that’s as many as Dennis Bergkamp provided for Thierry Henry in their entire time at Arsenal.

Szczesny is part of a new core…
I expect by now you’ll have seen the clips of Wojciech Szczesny singing Arsenal songs at the top of his voice in the aftermath of Saturday’s game.  His love for the club is palpable, and along with the likes of Vermaelen, Wilshere, and Frimpong, he is helping to forge a new spirit in the squad.  These players seem to take genuine pride in representing Arsenal, as the treatment dished out by Frimpong towards deserter Samir Nasri shows.  It’s heartwarming stuff, but there’s a serious side to it too – it’s a sign of the kind of spirit you find at many trophy-winning teams.

Arsenal fly to Greece later today for their dead rubber tie with Olympiacos.  I won’t be able to watch the game live, but I’ll hopefully provide some thoughts once I’ve caught up on Sky+.

Next Posts


Search Gunnerblog

Get your Gunnerblog t-shirts now!

get regular updates from GS with twitter

Top Gunn

Cesc Fabregas
The man in form.

    Retro Arsenal T-Shirts from
RetroFootballTShirts.co.uk - Bringing Back The Good Old Days!:
www.retrofootballtshirts.co.uk: Click Here!

Latest Posts

Sponsored Links

Calendar

March 2024
M T W T F S S
« Apr    
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031

Posts by Month


Most Recent Posts

Posts by Category

Syndication

Powered By

eXTReMe Tracker