Arsenal: Pragmatic approach covers blemishes for struggling side

Wednesday night was not the easiest on the eye, but given the recent performances, Arsenal took a pragmatic approach, that in the short-term, paid off.

In a previous post I touched upon the need for Arsenal to get more out of their current squad. Regardless of injuries, impending exits, or a poorly assembled squad, at the end of the day a manger needs to put his team in the best position to succeed. Wednesday night, Arsenal did just that.

Arsenal recently faced Chelsea twice in as little as seven days. Despite the short turnaround between matches, Arsene Wenger’s approach to the two games could not have been more different.

On January 3, Arsenal hosted Chelsea in a league match that would end as a 2-2 draw, a result which massively flattered the Gunners. In this game Arsenal’s defensive approach was to press Chelsea deep in their own half. The team took the shape of a 3-5-2 out of possession and kept a dangerously high line.

In one sense, the pressing approach worked, forcing Chelsea into turnovers and seemingly low percentage passes. On the other hand, those low percentage passes, in the form of long, direct balls into the forwards, completely exposed an inexperienced and isolated back three.

Calum Chambers, Rob Holding, and Shkodran Mustafi were repeatedly beat over the top, and were it not for the wasteful finishing of Alvaro Morata, the game would have ended much differently.

Wednesday night Arsenal traveled to Stamford Bridge for the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg. Whether it be due to missing Mesut Ozil through injury, dropping Alexis Sanchez to the bench because of the ongoing transfer saga, the difference of being the away side, or simply to address the glaring issues from the previous match, Arsenal did not press at all. In fact, they parked the bus.

Their 3-4-3 on paper spent most of the night in a 5-4-1 shape behind the ball, with the wingbacks tucking in alongside the back three, and the wide forwards alongside the center mids. In this setup, Arsenal set a line of confrontation around midfield, which allowed Chelsea much more time and space in their own half. While it wasn’t pretty, the payoff was how little space Arsenal allowed in and around the box.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

This was exactly the type of set up Calum Chambers and Rob Holding, and thereby the team, needed to succeed. There was very little space vertically between the lines to get sucked into, and when Hazard did find those pockets of space, the defenders could pass him off to one of the midfielders.

Likewise, the withdrawn wingbacks vastly reduced the amount of space they were forced to cover laterally. A stark contrast from the previous week, where the wingbacks were often 40 yards upfield and entirely disconnected from the back three.

The few times they looked individually susceptible, there was cover from every angle to nullify the threat. In the 42nd minute, for example, Rob Holding was undone by a Cesc Fabregas flick that looked to have played Hazard in 1-on-1 with David Ospina, but Ainsley Maitland-Niles was in a perfect covering position to see out the danger.

Next: 5 Things Learned Against Chelsea

In the end, Chelsea did have a couple of good looks, but were primarily forced to settle for hopeful crosses or tight angled shots for the better part of 90 minutes. So, credit to Wenger for adapting, and credit to the players for seeing out their roles. It may not be ideal, but for the moment it’s about as good as can be expected.

Home/Arsenal News