Mikel Arteta has wanted control in Arsenal’s play since he took charge, but it has taken time to develop.
Games still hung in the balance during their upward trajectory last season. A lack of authority in midfield during the first half of the campaign meant they relied on the attacking threat of Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka out wide to see them through games. Granit Xhaka’s return alongside Thomas Partey around Christmas helped, but there were still instances when Arsenal were leading but lost control.
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“I didn’t like how we were controlling the game,” Arteta said after a 3-2 win over Watford in March.
“We were allowing spaces against the team who, if we kept allowing that, we were going to suffer. I knew that. We had to put that right and we did it for certain periods. Then in the last 25 minutes, we lost it again.
“We have to show that maturity, understanding and capacity to control the game how we wanted to. At 3-1, after, we had to make 300,000 passes in the opposition half and when they have the right moment to come at us, then we can attack them. We didn’t do that. The game was open and you had the feeling the game was open right until the end.”
Arsenal blitzed Watford in the first hour that afternoon, but the game turned into a basketball match. Eddie Nketiah hit the post for Arsenal, but Watford looked like scoring and did through Moussa Sissoko, making the final moments tense. Games were too transitional and one of Arteta’s solutions was to bring on Rob Holding and change to a 5-3-2 shape to see out games.
His point about “300,000 passes” was an obvious exaggeration, but the basic principle was noticeable in Arsenal’s very next game — a 2-0 win over Leicester City.
Making a high number of passes in lower areas of the pitch to draw the opposition onto them before speeding up the tempo with quick rotations and one-touch passes allowed Arsenal not just to keep Leicester at bay, but also to create openings. Late in the Leicester game, a 25-pass move — in which Martin Odegaard played a crucial role with quick one-twos — almost led to another chance for Alexandre Lacazette, but was cut out by Caglar Soyuncu.
This was also put into practice a week later away at Aston Villa. With Arsenal 1-0 up after 70 minutes, they started a 33-pass move in the middle third of the pitch which led to Lacazette shooting. Only two of those passes were made in the Villa half. The light blue represents Aston Villa actions (18 being a 50/50 duel with Ashley Young; 23 was an attempted tackle by Coutinho), but Arsenal were in control of the situation throughout.
This trend has become more noticeable this season, but was most consistent in the 3-0 win at Brentford.
Context is important here. Arsenal were overwhelmed the last time they travelled to Brentford, with the atmosphere of the home crowd on the opening game of last season playing a big role. Arsenal were similarly jarred last season on their trips to Everton, Crystal Palace and Newcastle United.
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The 3-0 win over Brentford on September 18 was an early kick-off, but silencing the crowd was still essential — and Arsenal set out to do that immediately. Their first chance came after a 24-pass move in the second minute. Like the examples from last season, there was a high volume of passes on one side of the pitch (the right) to draw Brentford in before taking advantage of the space on the opposite side. Gabriel Martinelli slipped on shooting, but the tone had been set.
Brentford did not put as much pressure on the ball later in the first half, so the 14-pass move that led to Gabriel Jesus’ goal was spread more widely.
A bit more patience and composure were present in the 21-pass move that led to Fabio Vieira’s goal. William Saliba and Thomas Partey were both happy to invite pressure before escaping it with either a pass or a dribble which took Brentford players out of the equation. Few passes were needed as Arsenal moved back into the Brentford half — one from Vieira (No 21) to Saka (No 7) and the return to Vieira who took the initiative and shot.
Ben White and Saliba are comfortable starting these moves from deep areas. Partey gives them the time and space to breathe in midfield with his ability to evade opposition challenges or find an extra pass. Odegaard, Smith Rowe, Saka and Vieira inject pace into the moves when it is time to move forward. Xhaka getting further forward adds another dimension when entering the final third.
The probability of Arsenal doing this in every match is not high — this weekend’s north London derby may not be a game where it happens throughout, for example — but having the ability to do it will help. If they want to be serious top-four contenders, they need to separate themselves from the opposition on the pitch as well as in the table.
(Top photo: Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
