Arsenal: Let’s get technical with Matteo Guendouzi, Granit Xhaka

Arsenal struggled to play out from the back against Watford on Sunday, as they have done for many years now. A part of the problem was the body positioning of Matteo Guendouzi and Granit Xhaka. Let’s look at their technique and analyse the issues.

It has been a problem for most of the season. In fact, it has been a problem for several seasons. Arsenal cannot play out from the back, especially when pressed efficiently and effectively by well-drilled opponents.

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It came to a head on Sunday, in a 2-2 draw with Watford. Arsenal consistently attempted to play out from the back, most notably from goal kicks, but failed to progress the play into advanced areas, Watford pressing them excellently, routinely intercepting passes, winning tackles and forcing turnovers high up the pitch.

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There are many reasons for these struggles, but one I particularly want to higlight pertains to the body positioning of Matteo Guendouzi and Granit Xhaka, the two central midfielders who were most primarily tasked with shuttling the ball through the middle third and into the attacking areas.

Consider the following scenario, which happened on numerous occasions on Sunday: Bernd Leno or a central defender has the ball in their own penalty area. The full-backs are split wide, spreading the pitch, the front four are further up the pitch, and you have the task of receiving the ball, turning, and then passing forwards to release the front four into space against a high Watford defensive line. This was the responsibility of both Xhaka and Guendouzi against Watford. And yet, neither were able to do so. Why?

Well, technically speaking, it all comes down to the body positioning that they received the ball with. Have a look at the following still, from the first goalkick of the game:

Both Guendouzi and Xhaka are square-on to Leno, who is looking for a forward pass. There are plenty of other issues here, beyond the body positioning of the central midfield pair, but if Leno was to play a pass into either, where would the ball be going? Yep, straight back to the Arsenal goalkeeper. And this happened time and time again, without any adaptation or change from either player. Moreover, this was not the only match that it was a problem in. Here is Xhaka’s action map from the defeat to Liverpool. Look how many passes are straight back into the defensive third:

This stems from having a poor body position. Guendouzi and Xhaka should instead by stood on the ‘half-turn’, with one side opened up to the defensive third and another side opened up into attacking zones. This allows you to receive the ball and shuttle it forwards quickly, rather than receiving with a defender on your back, unable to progress up the pitch without making a risky and difficult spin and dribble past the defender.

Contrast how Xhaka and Guendouzi receive the ball to players like Jack Wilshere and Santi Cazorla, who were both excellent at receiving the ball on the half-turn and moving it forwards, rather than simply passing it back the way it came.

Xhaka and Guendouzi sorting out their body positioning will not solve Arsenal’s problems in playing out from the back. Their issues run much deeper than technical changes to two players. But if they are to solve it, this will have to be one part of the many amendments made, because Arsenal will not be able to successfully play out from the back in the manner they are receiving the ball at present.