Arsenal Vs Southampton: Beating the press

Arsenal host Southampton on Sunday afternoon. Saints manager Ralph Hassenhuttl likes to press opponents high up the pitch. It will be fascinating to see how the Gunners handle it.

Football has changed. Even in the last five years, the pattern of play that is seen up and down the country on the weekend has evolved dramatically. Sadly for Arsenal, under Arsene Wenger and then under Unai Emery, they are yet to successfully adapt.

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The key driving factor of this evolution is the development of high-pressing defensive schemes. Lesser teams no longer just sit back, defend deep and then hope for the best. They have recognised that giving good players time on the ball will cost you eventually, no matter how disciplined and well-structured you may be.

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Both executing a pressing scheme and beating a pressing scheme are key elements to a successful team, and the Gunners, typically, have struggled at both, especially the latter. Thankfully, on Sunday afternoon, when they host Southampton, they might well face another opponent that will look press high up the pitch. This is Saints manager Ralph Hassenhuttl speaking this week:

"“We are focusing on the game against a difficult opponent, a very good opponent that we beat once already this year in a big game with a fantastic performance. I’m not afraid about all the big teams because we showed against Chelsea and Arsenal that we can also play against these teams in good matches and we will need to, that’s for sure. Every game is difficult but I think in the first game we showed that we can bring this surprising result.”"

In the first match between these two teams, Southampton pressed Arsenal into complete submission. They harassed their visitors, not giving them any time on the ball, suffocating any semblance of creativity and control in midfield areas. Emery’s side could not construct passing moves because of the pressure they were under and the inaccuracy of passing that it caused.

That defeat was not an isolated incident. Issues at beating the high press have been present all season. So I will be fascinated to see how the north London outfit handle the visit of Southampton on Sunday. Can they play with greater speed and precision that allows them to circumnavigate pressure and control the midfield?

It is something that they have struggled with for some time, a key issue for players like Granit Xhaka, who is horrifically slow and inconsistent with his passing, and Lucas Torreira, who is a little limited in how he uses the ball.

Arsenal will need to move the ball quickly, smartly, sometimes looking longer into the channels for their pacy attackers to chase, to beat the Southampton press and control the game. Can they execute properly?