Arsenal Vs Burnley: Width, width, width

As Arsenal prepare to play Burnley on Sunday afternoon, there is one key to their tactical approach that Arsene Wenger and his players must execute: Width.

As of writing (Sunday morning), Burnley have averaged just 43.6% possession. Only West Bromwich Albion have averaged less. Sean Dyche’s side, while enjoying success, has not done so through controlling games by dominating possession. In fact, it has been because of the exact opposite.

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They sit deep, they defend their own penalty area, and they are regimented and organised, making themselves extremely difficult to break down. With little space to manoeuvre, and even less time on the ball, opposition attackers are often sounded out, unable to get the ball under control with the pressure that they are under from nearby defenders.

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It is a tactic that can frustrate teams, especially the patient and probing play of Arsenal, that easily meanders, growing aimless, lacking purpose and penetration. That is the strategy that Burnley will again attempt to employ when the Gunners travel to Turf Moor on Sunday. And when the centre of the pitch is crowded and cramped, as Burnley will try and make it, there is one clear approach that can carve out opportunities: Width.

Naturally, when defending deep and protecting the goal, the defensive team will want to stay as narrow as possible, guarding the width of the penalty area, and little more. There is little space in behind, because of the depth of their defensive line. And it is difficult to slalom through a tangle of legs in the middle of the pitch. The space is out wide.

In the 3-4-3 system that Arsene Wenger has implemented since the closing stages of last season, that width has not been provided by natural wingers. Rather, the two wide attackers are afforded the freedom to drift inside, roaming throughout the pitch, because the wing-backs press forwards, ensuring that the pitch is stretched horizontally.

And so far this season, both Sead Kolasinac and Hector Bellerin have done their duties as attacking forces well. Kolasinac has already scored one goal and assisted a further three in the Premier League, while Bellerin, although he has not notched a goal or assist, has increasingly impressed himself in an attacker manner in recent weeks, with his movement off the ball, his searing pace, and his ability to slip the attentions of opposing defenders, allowing him to sneak in behind the defence on several occasions.

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Burnley will look to frustrate Arsenal, especially through central areas, where the Gunners’ creative hub features most. That means that Wenger and his players must find other ways to dislodge the positional security and shape of their hosts. That way is width, and it will be on Kolasinac and Bellerin to provide it.