%20rotate(-8.06)%22%2F%3E%0A%20%20%3Cpolygon%20class%3D%22cls-1%22%20points%3D%22336.19%20136.81%20330.16%2094.25%20326.06%2071.19%20326.44%2071.13%20335.22%2093.54%20352.29%20134.52%20373.95%20131.46%20362.7%2052.01%20350.02%2053.8%20356.05%2096.36%20360.15%20119.42%20359.77%20119.48%20350.99%2097.08%20333.91%2056.09%20312.25%2059.15%20323.51%20138.6%20336.19%20136.81%22%2F%3E%0A%20%20%3Cpolygon%20class%3D%22cls-1%22%20points%3D%22402.91%2059.3%20412.36%20126.02%20427.17%20123.92%20417.72%2057.21%20431.59%2055.24%20429.79%2042.51%20387.23%2048.53%20389.04%2061.27%20402.91%2059.3%22%2F%3E%0A%20%20%3Cpolygon%20class%3D%22cls-1%22%20points%3D%22463.51%20118.77%20458.69%2084.71%20474.68%2082.44%20479.51%20116.5%20494.36%20114.4%20483.11%2034.95%20468.26%2037.06%20472.96%2070.25%20456.96%2072.52%20452.26%2039.32%20437.4%2041.43%20448.65%20120.88%20463.51%20118.77%22%2F%3E%0A%20%20%3Cpolygon%20class%3D%22cls-1%22%20points%3D%22540.5%20107.87%20538.77%2095.68%20518.91%2098.49%20515.77%2076.29%20535.63%2073.47%20533.93%2061.5%20514.07%2064.32%20511.11%2043.42%20530.98%2040.61%20529.25%2028.42%20494.53%2033.34%20505.78%20112.78%20540.5%20107.87%22%2F%3E%0A%20%20%3Cpolygon%20class%3D%22cls-1%22%20points%3D%22299.03%20155.17%20301.29%20171.58%20542.78%20138.39%20540.5%20121.97%20299.03%20155.17%22%2F%3E%0A%3C%2Fsvg%3E)
Tactical Naivety Haunts Swansea v Arsenal Performance
And it’s happened again. Arsenal get themselves into a solid position and a good footing in the game and then they proceed to collapse faster than a deckchair on a windy beach. Their performance seemed to be quite solid until midway through the second half, when quite simply we went in search of a goal we didn’t need and ran out of legs with which to chase back. Swansea just needed to keep their heads and they were going to pick up goals at some point. Arsenal v Swansea simply showed how poor tactically we are at the moment.
Most of you will have heard the expression that “A picture paints 1,000 words”. Well here is the picture that quite perfectly explains why Swansea were able to score against us on Sunday:
Arsenal had seven players ahead of the ball when Swansea broke in the move that led to their equaliser (BBC SPORT)
This picture should make any Arsenal fan want to scream. Not only are 7 of our players completely out of contention of chasing the ball back, four of these players are standing within a couple of meters of each other. Swansea then broke from this point to draw a free-kick from which Sigurdsson scored an absolute peach of a goal. No-one had any chance of stopping the free-kick. However he should never have been stepping up to take it.
Arsenal have now failed to win after taking the lead in 6 of their 18 games so far this season, the same number of times this happened in all of the 58 games last year
If we look back at that picture it should be abundantly clear to anyone with an ounce of technical nous that this is not the way to hold a 1-0 lead. Welbeck, Sanchez and Oxlade-Chamberlain can be forgiven for being ahead of the ball at this point. However Chamberlain’s insistence on drifting in has left Chambers space outside, and as a young player he will try and occupy this space. So whilst I think Chambers is at fault for being massively out of position, he’s less to blame because of his youth.
Ramsey and Flamini are so out of position at this point it makes me want to cry a little bit. Why they have decided that Chamberlain needs to be followed quite so tightly I don’t know, but at this point they are both the wrong side of the referee. Flamini should be dropping back to a point where he is just visible in this picture, acting as a buffer before they get to the defence. Ramsey should be covering as well, but had pushed on in the hope of a glory headline in the papers.
More from EPL News
- PITA’s 2023/24 Premier League predictions
- DraftKings EPL Promo Code: Bet $5, Get $150 on ONE Arsenal Win
- Man City could be handed points deduction for FFP breaches
- Arsenal’s title rivals are taking a huge transfer gamble
- 3 key players Tottenham could be without for Sunday’s North London Derby
And is we look even further at who to blame, Mertesacker should have been bellowing at his midfield to drop back slightly. There’s no way Mertesacker and Monreal can deal with players running at them full on like Swansea did and in the end it took Gibbs bringing down the Swansea attack to try and keep the attack out of the area. But these instructions should also come from the men in charge.
And once again, we’re back with Arsene Wenger’s inability to make a change. When you’re 1-0 up with 15 minutes to go it’s very different to when you’re 1-0 up with 60 minutes to go. With an hour left it makes sense to keep pressing: your players are fresher, you’ve got more time to score if they do nick one back and it makes sense to keep the pressure on. However with 15 minutes to go your midfielders are going to start to tire and they are not going to cover quite as much area, so the starting position has to change.
Arsenal have now failed to win after taking the lead in 6 of their 18 games so far this season, the same number of times this happened in all of the 58 games last year. Something has to change in the camp and I’m running out of suggestions.