Arsenal's Style of Play

5-4-1:
* * * * *
* * * *
*

6-3-1:
* * * * * *
* * *
*

Arsenal's difficulties in breaking opponents down are due to an attitude of keeping possession and trying to pass the ball into good goalscoring situations. This is counter-balanced by teams defending extremely deep and deploying 5 or 6 defensive minded players, who sit back and try to break play up. Blackburn deployed 6 defenders against Arsenal. As did CSKA Moscow. So what are Arsenal supposed to do ?

Normally, when faced with a defensive triangle that sits deep there are 3 things you can do to get the ball into scoring situations in the box.

1) Cross from the touchline, high, aimed to the back post or top of the 6-yard box for someone to head home. Arsenal have no crossers other than Eboue - more importantly we have no headers in attack or midfield and are not encouraged to cross. Crossing is deemed wasteful since it often results in possession being lost. Henry's winner against United was a rare, rare headed goal from him or anyone up front.

2) Take shots from distance when the ball is at someone's feet with space opening up in front of him. Arsenal have few players who can shoot from distance adeptly other than Rosicky and Henry. Henry is usually in the box and plays deeper (when he bothers to play at all) as opposed to outside it. Rosicky has not been shooting that much this year as he is not encouraged to and has also been strangely off balance when he does. Shooting from long distance is deemed wasteful since it often results in possession being lost. Rosicky's strikes against Hamburg and Liverpool and Henry's goal against Blackburn were exceptions.

3) Try to barrell through, running at pace with the ball at one's feet looking to shoot as soon as space opens up. Vieira and Bergkamp were very good at this. Again, Arsenal currently, have few players who can do this as it involves having a low centre of gravity and the ability to ride challenges while maintaining one's balance. Only Adebayor can do this somewhat but he is not encouraged to. This too is deemed wasteful since it often results in possession being lost. The development of Denilson and Abou Diaby will be critical and interesting in this regard.

So Arsenal revert to 2 other approaches that maintain possession and use it to their advantage.

Approaches that maintain possession involve:

4) Pass around the corners of the triangle and try to cut the ball back to someone at the corners and top of the 6-yard box or penalty area. Arsenal try this as they have plenty of players who move and pass well and are composed on the ball. However this is very tricky as it requires many consecutive passes working out and the final player being available in space. It also requires excellent first touches and a good pitch - not to mention ensuring defenders don't get a slight touch on the ball or crowd out attacking players. It also does not work if teams defend very deep. Everyone defends deeper against Arsenal than they do against anyone else.

5) Pass around the sides and apex of the defensive triangle till mini-channels open up and then pass into the mini-channel at speed and shoot once space opens up in front of the goal. This is time consuming, requires many consecutive passes working out and the final player being available in space. It also requires excellent first touches and a good pitch. This is Arsenal's favorite way of trying to score. When successful, this is the closest any team comes to scoring the perfect goal. On the flip side this approach often results in defenders sticking out legs to try and knock the ball away (or knock the player down) and conceding penalties. But if those are not picked up or given by the referee, the point is lost. Aliaderie's penalty against Blackburn that was not given was a case in point. Arsenal twist opposing defences like no one else. Referees cannot often keep up and would rather give the defenders the benefit of the doubt.

So why is possession so important ?

1) Regaining 'useful' possession is a bit of a problem:

Since Arsenal play by passing and moving at pace, they need to start attacks quickly as well. Just getting the ball back is not enough. When they had Vieira, Petit and to a certain extent Edu, this was achievable as they could regain possession quickly and continue the attack. Presently, Arsenal do not have players in midfield who can win the ball back quickly and restart an attack instantly. The best tacklers are in defence and by that time, play has shifted to the other end and Arsenal's shape and momentum is lost. When midfielders do break up an attack, again, Arsenal's shape is lost. The time and effort spent in regaining possession in one of these 2 ways is considered detrimental to Arsenal's style of play. Solution ? Try not to lose the ball to begin with.

2) Open play is Arsenal's primary avenue for scoring:

Both players and manager know this. Recent goals from free kicks are exceptions more than the norm and will require more time and practice to become a regular part of the armoury. Arsenal have no free kick specialists - their most proficient free kick taker is now out for the season (Van Persie). Corners are almost never scored off and so, despite being awarded more corners and attacking free kicks than any one else in the league, Arsenal concentrate on scoring from open play. So how can you maximise scoring from open play ? Keep the ball for as long as possible.

So opposing teams are willing to concede corners and free kicks, knowing that the chances of conceding a goal are so slim, it is worth breaking down an attack for.

In time once this group of players get to know each other more and get more accustomed to the Premiership, Arsenal will be more successful with its style which may be viewed as tedious in it delivery and stubborn in it's attitude. However, no one pursues attacking excellence as diligently as Wenger and the Gunners. Arsenal have shown that it is possible to dominate, playing its style of football in the past. Arsenal will show it's possible once again - just give them some time.